Isabella Evans and the Search
by rachpotter13
Summary: Isabella thought that she was a regular girl, wrong! She is really a witch and she gets transported into a world of magic and mystery. When she starts to find out more about her past weird things come up, with her new friends, she can do anything, right?
1. A Witch Hidden Away

**Chapter 1: A Witch Hidden Away**

Mr. and Ms. Bradley were what society would consider normal; Mr. Bradley had a high-ranked job at the local factory where they made the latest in durable work boots, while Ms. Bradley was a house-wife who was quite popular at the local country club. Mr. Bradley was a tall lean man; he was clean shaven and always seemed to be wearing a blazer or a tie of some sorts. Ms. Bradley was also very tall, she abnormally thin and long nose along with a large neck, which worked in her favor since she was constantly adding more pearls around her neck.

They worked very hard to keep up their respectable image, thus, they were quite secretive. No one would ever expect that these "classy" country-club-folk would be keeping an entire world secret from their neighbors. The Bradley's preferred to keep this alternate world out of their life; actually, they wish that they never heard of such a thing. Mr. Bradley's sister was not normal, she was a complete freak; and it had been years since they had any contact with her and her good-for-nothing, low life husband.

The Bradley's had just welcomed a new baby girl named Olivia and their only goal was to keep their new bundle of joy out of the craziness of Mr. Bradley's sister's messed up existence. The one thing that they knew about his sister was that she also had a child a few months younger than their own, but they didn't know the name let only the gender of the child. It was just a fading thought.

"Doris, I'm home." yelled Mr. Bradley, one ordinary Tuesday night. Ms. Bradley walked into the main foyer holding her infant daughter.

"Welcome home, Reginald." she said, and then she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, dear. I'm a bit behind schedule since I had to run some urgent errands before you got home."

"It's not a big deal, Doris." said Reginald. "I get to spend more time with my precious Olivia." He took off his hat and coat and placed them on the coat rack by the front door. He put his briefcase down and took Olivia from her mother's arms. "What's for dinner?" he asked as he lifted Olivia above his head.

"Filet Mignon and caramelized pears." she answered sweetly. "I thought that we could celebrate tonight."

"Celebrate what?" he asked, he was now ticking Olivia's stomach while she giggled. "Tonight is nothing special… right?"

"Of course, but I feel as if there has been a huge burden lifted off my shoulders." explained Doris. "It's hard to explain." She pulled out a knife and started to cut up some vegetables for their salads. There was a long pause before anyone responded. Reginald placed his daughter in the play pen they had in the living room then sat back down in his large armchair and said:

"I got a letter from Alice today." he murmured.

Doris stopped chopping and stabbed the cutting board with the knife. "And?"

"She doesn't need any money or anything... she only wanted to congratulate us on Olivia and to tell as about her child who was born a few months after Olivia." said Reginald.

"Olivia is almost 7 months and now she wants to congratulate us now?" said Doris. She walked into the living room her arms folded over her small chest.

"She said that there were some issues with her new born. She said that the child's lungs were failing and they have been spending all their free time at the hospital." explained Reginald.

"That is all their time; your sister and that scum of a husband are no good, low life bums!" yelled Doris. She had never like Alice, and she knew she never would.

"Watch your mouth! They may be freaks but she is my sister first!" Reginald yelled back.

Doris gasped and stormed back into the kitchen and started to chop the vegetables again. Loudly. Reginald sighed. There was a pregnant silence hanging over them.

"The child," Reginald began. "It's a girl. Alice sent a picture; it looks like she and Olivia could be twins. It's bloody amazing."

Doris stormed back into the room; the knife in one hand, the other on her hip. "Don't. Don't you dare compare our child to that- that thing your sister gave birth to!" She waved the knife around in rage. She took a breath and turned around. "Is- is it one of them?" Her breathe became soft and small.

"She said there are signs."

"Name? What did they name it?"

"Isabella. Alice and Jacob named her: Isabella Paige Evans." said Reginald. "They told me that they want-"

"If you're going to tell me that that freak sister of yours wants me to be the godmother, tell I'd rather be a poor homeless bum!" said Doris.

"No, they wanted to invite us to tea this weekend." he said quietly. "She wants to make things right… for the girls…"

"What? You expect me to have to relive that nightmare all over again?" Doris asked/yelled. "Why should I forgive her for what she did?"

"It was 7 years ago!" said Reginald.

"At my wedding no less!"

"Fine, I'll go by myself." He stood up. "With Olivia as well!" He grabbed the paper and stormed loudly up the stairs, slamming the door behind him.

The next day the Bradley's acted as if their fight never happened. They went on with their normal life and on Thursday, Doris agreed to go with Reginald to see his sister. But little did the Bradley's know, their date for afternoon tea would never come for that Friday a note was left on the Bradley's doorstep along with a nice, small surprise.

"What does it say?" asked Doris, she tried to grab the letter from her husband's hand. He pushed her away.

"Oi! Let me read will ya?" He held out the letter to read. "'Dear Mr. and Ms. Bradley…

_I regret to inform you that at midnight last night an evil wizard attacked Mr. Bradley's younger sister, Alice, and her husband, Jacob, for information on a secret Wizarding Group that they were apart off I'm sorry to inform you but, Alice and Jacob Evans, during the attack, were lost; not in the means of Death but they have vanished from their home. We have our top Aurors, Wizarding police you could say, on the job searching for the Evans; but until they are found we must ask you to protect their young infant child, Isabella. She has great potential and we hope to see here at Hogwarts when she comes of age. Your home will be safe from any Dark Magic so there is no mean to fear for your lives. All I ask is that you give dear Isabella a home and give her a chance to become great!_

_Sincerely,_

_Professor McGonagall__, Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. _

The Bradley's agreed on that day that they would raise the young girl. They both new that Alice and Jacob would show up the next week saying; "Sorry, sorry, this definitely isn't how we wanted you to meet little Izzy. Sorry." But that day never came.

The Bradley's watched as their daughter grew up and as their niece grew up as well. They both knew what was coming very soon. No matter how much they hated the idea of it. No matter how much they wish they could stop the whole process. No matter how much they made her cry or put her down, they couldn't stop it.

No one could stop it. Isabella Paige Evans was destined for greatness. Isabella Paige Evans was going to be brilliant and clever and brave and powerful, someone the world had never seen before. Isabella Paige Evans was going to be a witch, and a damn good one at that.

* * *

><p><strong><em>So here is my first chapter! Please keep reading at least to chapter 3, it gets so much better! Trust me! And please review! Thanks :D<em>**


	2. In Comes the Beast

Chapter 2: In Comes the Beast

It had been 10 years since Isabella Paige Evans was left on the Bradley's door step. She had developed into a small young girl, she was very skinny and she looked as if you could push her over and she's break into a million pieces. Her hair was a mix between red and brown, but it was nothing special. The only thing Isabella liked about herself was her eyes; the deep sea green gave her a mysterious look she really didn't have. She always wondered if people felt the same about them, she wanted to know if the agreed that her eyes were mysterious but she doesn't have any close friends to ask. Isabella was a shy girl, very timid and very studious. Her life had no excitement, the same old routine every day just how her Aunt Doris liked it.

She always knew she didn't fit in with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Isabella was never treated well by her Aunt Doris and her cousin Olivia; they always acted as if Isabella was an inferior creature, a monster so to speak.

It was the middle of summer, it was the summer before Isabella and Olivia started their first year of middle school. Isabella spent most of her time in her attic bedroom even though it was so stuffy and humid up there. She loved to cuddle up on her small bed next to the window and read a good book; then when she finished the book she would walk around the gated community where they lived and would imagine that she was in the book trying to escape the evil villain of the story. And that's exactly what she did one July afternoon.

"ISABELLA!" yelled Aunt Doris from the kitchen. Isabella walked down to her aunt.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Don't say 'yes' to me in that ungrateful tone!" said Aunt Doris. "Go get the mail and bring in here."

Isabella did as she was told; as she walked towards the door she passed the window and she noticed an owl perched on a fence outside the house. "Strange." she muttered to herself. She picked up the mail at the door and started to flip through it. Bills, bills, a Country Club flyer, more bills, and then she stopped at a strange letter. It was hand written with green ink, there was no return address, but what stood out most of all is that it was addressed to her.

"Isabella Paige Evans, 27 Circuit Road, the stuffy upstairs attic." she read. She walked back over to her aunt and handed her the letter hiding the one addressed to her behind her back. She walked towards the sitting room.

At that moment Olivia walked into the room, she had just come home from a day at the beach with her friends. Her light blonde hair was up in a sloppy ponytail and her tan seemed to have gotten deeper since Isabella had last seen her that morning.

"Mum! I'm home." She called, and then she walked over towards Isabella. "What the bloody 'ell is that?" she asked Isabella referring to the letter in her hands. She snapped her gum with every syllable.

"Nothing that has to do with you." Isabella said shyly.

"Mum!" Olivia cried. "The thing's keeping secrets!"

Doris walked into the room and saw Isabella with the letter about to open it. She saw the writing and for a moment she thought about where she had seen it before; then it hit her like a speeding bullet. "Give me that!" she ripped the letter into small bits and pieces.

"Th- that was mine!" said Isabella.

"Oh shut it." said Olivia.

"Olivia!" snapped Doris. "Go ring your father tell him to come home straight away."

"Yes Mum." Olivia said quietly.

"And you," she turned to Isabella. "You will give me all the mail from now on. ALL of it!"

Isabella nodded and sulked her way up to her attic room. There she couldn't help but pound her pillow. She was so anger! It could have been a letter about her parents. She never really knew the complete story of what happen to her parents, but it was something like they got lost on a journey they went on when Isabella was just a baby. She couldn't help but cry and that night she fell asleep crying without any dinner.

The next morning she woke up early so she could have the house to herself for a little while before the mad rush that was the morning. She quietly walked down stairs and entered the kitchen. To her much surprise her uncle Reginald was already up drinking his morning coffee.

"Morning." she said quietly, she walked to the fridge and poured herself a class of milk.

"You alright?" he asked coldly.

"Huh?"

"Your face is puffy, what were you crying about?" asked Reginald. He was the only one in the house who didn't treat Isabella let complete garage everything she walked into a room.

"Oh, uh, yes… the book I finished, the dog died. It was sad." said Isabella.

"Sad, aye?" asked Reginald. "Just sad?"

"Well, it was a very emotional and depressing death." said Isabella, she knew that her adding details weren't helping but she had to do something.

"Ah." said Reginald, and then he went back to reading his paper. About ten minutes later her Aunt Doris came down stairs then another twenty before Olivia made an appearance. At that time Isabella decided she was going to go out that afternoon.

After she got dressed she walked down the local playground. Isabella always liked to go there; it was her little piece of the world. She could sit on the swings for hours not moving at all just think about whatever came to mind. Today the playground was extremely empty, which was unusually for a hot summer day like that. Isabella decided that she would sit on top of the monkey bars today instead of her usual swings.

Hours past and no one came to the park. Isabella was lost in thought as she lay on the top of the bars.

"Oi! Whatcha doin' up there?" asked a male voice. Isabella sat up and came face to face with a giant man. His hair was dark and wild with streaks of gray starting to show. Isabella estimated that his height had to be 10 feet. He was huge.

"Who- who are you?" she asked.

"What are ya? An owl, aye?" he asked. He laughed at his own joke. "Name's Rubeus Hagrid, but you can just call me Hagrid." He smiled. Isabella could feel the warmth coming off from him. "Now, I'm here to deliver you this." He handed her the other day.

"But how did you get this?" she asked.

"You'll see." said Hagrid.

She took a deep breath and opened the letter. She read aloud: "Dear Miss Evans, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Terms Begin on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress." She smiled and looked up at Hagrid. "So I'm a witch?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right." said Hagrid. "You're destined for greatness Isabella."

"How do you know my- wait- magic?" Isabella answered her.

Hagrid nodded. "Now let's go get your stuff from your house and then were off to get your school stuff."

"Hold up big boy." said Isabella. "How do I know you're for real? And you're not some totally creeper?"

"Ya want some proof, aye?" asked Hagrid.

"Uh, duh! I may be little but I'm not stupid okay!" snapped Isabella.

"Alright then." said Hagrid. "Don't be tellin' any one at Hogwarts bout this but…" he pulled out a pink umbrella and pointed at the swings. With a burst of light, one of the swings turned into a banana and the other turned into an old shoe.

"Will I be able to do that one day?" asked Isabella.

"That and much more."

"I guess we should get going then? Hagrid, I think you stand out a bit… can't you hide?" she asked as they walked down the street.

"Rubbish, I shouldn't have to hide." said Hagrid.  
>"Uh, Hagrid… why did you hand deliver the letter and not send it by owl again?" asked Isabella.<p>

"How you know 'bout owls?" asked Hagrid.

"I noticed them when I got the letter the other day. Owls out in the mid of the day is quite strange, but I like strange.

Hagrid smiled. "Well aren't ya a smart little miss. Now which house be yer's?"

"This one. Wait here, I'll be pack in a jiffy." said Isabella. She ran inside and she went 2 by 2 up the stairs up to her room. She grabbed all the things that were important to her: her favorite books, her small stuffed panda bear, and the blanket that her parents give her when she was a baby. She packed them all into a bag and then ran back downstairs. Doris was standing in front of the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Isabella tossed her the letter from Professor McGonagall. "I'm going to become someone my parents will be proud of!"

"Your parents? Your pitiful, bum parents? Proud of you going to learn how to wave a stick around?" she asked. "HA! We decided a long time ago that you would never be going to that school. That you would never become one- one of those things!"

At that moment Hagrid kicked down the door. "Oh you Muggles are all the same. Trying ter crush the dreams of young Wizards and Witches. Seen it before, with a brilliant wizard named Harry Potter. Don't you dare try and stop this young girl from becoming something better then you!" Hagrid yelled, wagging his sausage like finger in Doris' face.

"How dare you!" yelled Doris.

"Bloody 'ell!" said Olivia, she came down the stairs and starred up at Hagrid.

"Hagrid, let's go." said Isabella. "I don't need her permission."

"Oh really?" Doris asked, her voice getting higher and higher. "You're not going anywhere." She grabbed Isabella's arm and started to pull her back inside the house.

Hagrid pulled out an umbrella and put the tip to Doris' neck. "She- is- going!"

"That doesn't scare me!"

"Oh." Hagrid pointed at Olivia. "Watch." he whispered to Isabella. A bolt of light came out of the umbrella and hit Olivia square in the back of the head as she was trying to run away from the bolt. Then at the top of her head, two fuzzy ears appeared. As Olivia and Doris were flipping out over Olivia's new ears, Hagrid and Isabella snuck out the door.

"Hagrid! That was bloody brilliant!" said Isabella. "Will I be able to do that one day?"

"That and much, much more."

"Now where are we off to?" asked Isabella.

"You be full of questions, ain't ya?"

Isabella blushed.

"Don't worry; you remind me of a great witch well actually two." said Hagrid. "Now let's go to the little place I like to call: Diagon Alley."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review! thank you! :D

~rachel 3


	3. The Bank, the Wand, and the Owl

Chapter 3: The Bank, the Wand, and the Owl

The next morning Isabella woke up to find herself sitting sideways in a big arm chair and a giant coat on top of her.

"Hagrid?" she asked. She looked around the room. It was dimly lit and there was a four-post bed in the middle of the room. It was small and a little dusty. She didn't see Hagrid so she put on her trainers and walked out the door into the hall. She walked down the corridor and she heard voices from the end.

"Now listen 'ere, Neville." said a voice that sounded like Hagrid.

She walked down the stairs and saw a large open sitting room/tavern.

"Had to go pick her up just like, Harry." said Hagrid. "McGonagall wanted me to go pick 'er up after she didn't respond the first time."

"Strange, but practical; we don't need another incident like Harry Potter now do we?" said a man who sat across from Hagrid. His face was round, quite baby-like. He was wearing long robes and a pointed hat.

"Who's Harry Potter? You mentioned him to my aunt." asked Isabella as she walked down the stair and walked over to where Hagrid and man were sitting.

"Ah, this must be Isabella Evans? Correct?" asked the man.

"Yup, ain't she a tiny one? Reminds me a bit of Ginny, don't ya think?" said Hagrid.

"Yes, her first year. Especially the hair, little darker though." said the man. "Is she Muggle-born?"

"Nah, she's Alice and Jacob's daughter."

It looked as if the man's heart had skipped a beat. "Oh, well that does change some things. My name is Neville Longbottom." He stuck out his hand.

Isabella shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Longbottom is the professor of Herbology at Hogwarts, also the Head of Gryffindor house." explained Hagrid. "His wife also runs this tavern; it's called The Leaky Cauldron. Speaking of which, where is Hannah?"

"Over here, Hagrid." a woman with long, wavy dirty blonde hair walked over to them. She wore a simple navy dress and a tattered old apron. She had a kind smile that was filled with motherly warmth. "You must be Isabella; we've been awaiting your arrival. I'm Hannah, the innkeeper here."

"Hello, but who is this Harry Potter and Ginny?" said Isabella.

"Muggle-born?" asked Hannah.

"No, she's Alice and Jacob Evans' daughter." said Professor Longbottom.

"What's a Muggle?" asked Isabella, her voice was rising.

"Hagrid, did you tell her anything?" asked Hannah.

"Well, she fell asleep on the drive over 'ere." said Hagrid. Then he turned to Isabella. "Muggles are non-magical folk like that horrible aunt of yours.

"Oh." Isabella felt a bit stupid. "So that would mean that a Muggle-born would be a witch or wizard born from Muggle parents' right?"

"Absolutely." said Professor Longbottom. "Hagrid, shouldn't you be getting to Diagon Ally to pick up Isabella's school things?"

"Oh," Hagrid looked at the clock on the wall. "Right we better get going."

Hagrid stood up making the entire table; in the few short hours since Isabella had met Hagrid she had forgotten how tall he was compared to her. He motioned her to follow him; they walked to the back of the pub into what seemed to be a storage closest.

"Hagrid, where are we supposed to be going?" asked Isabella.

"Wer' gonna go ter Gringotts, it's the Wizarding Bank. It be run by Goblins." said Hagrid.

"This is a storage closest, there's no bank here."

"Don't be so sure." Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella that he used to give her cousin Olivia ears yesterday. He tapped a brick with the tip of it the umbrella. The bricks started to move and spread apart; an arch doorway appeared reviling a huge "magical" center.

Witches and Wizards filled the street; they all were wearing funny clothes and hats. Somewhere wearing what Isabella would think Hagrid would call "Muggle Clothes." The street was lined with shops and little booths; and at the center of it all was a large marble building that Isabella guessed was the Wizard Bank: Gringotts.

"Welcome ter Diagon Alley." said Hagrid.

"Is that Gringotts?" asked Isabella.

"Good eye."

Hagrid led the way into Gringotts; the bank had a high ceiling and was made almost entirely out of marble. Desks lined the walls, at each one there was a little creature with long ears and a long nose.

"Goblins," said Hagrid. "Nasty little buggers. Don't be wantin' ter be gettin' on the wrong side of them."

Hagrid walked to the desk right at the end of the bank, where, the highest was; and, in Isabella's opinion the oldest goblin was as well.

"Yes?" asked the elderly goblin.

"We are here to excess Isabella Evans' vault." said Hagrid.

"Identification?" asked the goblin.

"Right…" Hagrid started to search his pockets. "I got the key 'ere somewhere… Ah, found the little bugger…"

He handed the goblin a small, golden key. The goblin examined the key and said:

"Right, Shumrook!" yelled the goblin. A much younger goblin appeared at the desk.

"Yes?" asked Shumrook.

"Escort Miss. Evans and her," the goblin looked to Hagrid. "And her companion to her vault." "Yes, follow me, please." Shumrook said coldly.

He led them to a rail system. Hagrid help Isabella into the kart. They had to go 3 levels underground to get to where they were going.

"Hold on, there are a lot of turns." Shumrook said as if he didn't want to be there.

"Hagrid, where are we going?" asked Isabella.

"To your vault, O' course." said Hagrid.

"My vault? But my aunt said I didn't have any money…" said Isabella.

"Ar' ya mental?" asked Hagrid. "O' course you got money, do ya really think your parents would be in the Order and not leave you somethin' behind in class somethin' happened ter 'em?"

Isabella felt quite foolish; of course her aunt wouldn't have told her about the wizarding world. She saw exactly how she felt about magic when Hagrid came to bring her here.

"So, Hagrid, why do we have to go to my vault? Does Hogwarts cost money?" asked Isabella.

"'Course not, but the supplies we need ter be gettin' ya do." laughed Hagrid.

The rest of the trip was silent as they made their way through the twists and turns to her vault. The stopped suddenly at number 313.

"Vault 313; belongs to the Evans family. Key, please." said Shumrook.

"Yes, here." Hagrid handed the goblin the key.

"Thank you." Shumrook placed the key into the door. Isabella could hear the elaborate system of locks open. "In here."

The door opened and inside was piles of pieces of gold, silver, and bronze. Isabella was at a loss of words.

"Hagrid- wow- I," Isabella couldn't quite get what she wanted to say out. She never had money for anything, her aunt never trusted her with it.

"Now, let's get you what you need for school and maybe a little for spendin'." said Hagrid. Isabella stepped aside as Hagrid gathered the money she needed.

After their adventure in Gringotts, Isabella and Hagrid had to get the most important thing for a witch or wizard starting at Hogwarts: a wand.

"Now, the only place ter be gettin' you a wand is at Ollivander's." said Hagrid.

"Ollivander's…" repeated Isabella.

They walked down Diagon Alley; they pasted by shops with kids surrounding the window displays. One in particular stood out to Isabella. It wasn't a book display like Isabella thought would grab her attention, no, it was a window display filled with broomsticks of different sizes and styles and colors.  
>"Taken a liken ter the broom, I see." said Hagrid as Isabella walked over to take a closer look. "Ter bad first years ain't aloud to have their own brooms."<p>

"Why not?" asked Isabella.

"Now that be a good question for the Headmistress." said Hagrid. "Come on, we need ter get ya your wand."

"Right… right…" mumbled Isabella as she followed Hagrid.

"Here we are," said Hagrid. "Ollivander's; now just go in and he'll be with ya shortly."

"Well aren't you coming in with me?" asked Isabella.

"I've got ter be gettin' some stuff for Hogwarts. I'll be back before you're done." Hagrid smiled then started to walk down the street again.

Isabella looked at Ollivander's; it was definitely one of the older shops on Diagon Alley. The windows were dusty and the sign was fading. She took one deep breathe and opened the door.

A bell rang as Isabella walked in. The inside looked as old as the outside. There were pieces of parchment scattered all over the tiny shop along with millions of boxes that seemed to have no organization to their placement.

Isabella wandered over to the desk and rang the bell that was half hidden under a piece of parchment.

"Hello?" she called softly.

Then suddenly an old man popped out from behind the shelves.

"And you are?" asked the man.

"I think I'm entitled to the same question." said Isabella.

"Ah, a feisty one; well, I've never seen you in my shop before so you must be a first year no doubt." said the man.

"Yes, are you Mr. Ollivander?" asked Isabella.

"Correct, now I need your name." said Mr. Ollivander.

"Isabella, Isabella Evans, sir." said Isabella.

"Really? Evans, aye? Your father Jacob Evans?" asked Mr. Ollivander.

She nodded.

"And your mother the bright and beautiful Alice Evans?"

She nodded again.

"Well then I know just the wand for you." He ran into the back of the store. Isabella's heart was beating fast; it was the first time she ever heard someone tell her something positive about her parents.

Her Aunt Doris always said that her mother was a gold digging freak and her father was a bum with money; but Isabella always knew deep down that her parents were special and important. She is starting to piece together her parents: they were both wizards and they were part of some "Order"... Order of what exactly? That was what she wanted to find out.

"Here we go…" said Mr. Ollivander as he came back into the room. He was holding a long black box. "Try out this one." He handed her the wand. "9 inches made of Birch and the core is a Unicorn Hair."

For a moment, Isabella just stood there starring at the wand.

"Well, give it a flick." said Mr. Ollivander.

"Right." Isabella lightly flicked the wand and nothing happened.

"Too weak…" murmured Mr. Ollivander. "Maybe this…" He handed Isabella another wand from the pile closest to them.

She took it; it was a little longer than other.

"13 inches, made of Willow and has a core of Dragon Heart String." said Mr. Ollivander.

Isabella did the same flicking motion with the wand as she did the other. She blew up a nearby vase.

"Sorry!" said Isabella.

"No worries, this wand can't control your powers… maybe what you need is not separate but a mix…" Mr. Ollivander rushed to the back and came back a few seconds later with a big smile on his face. "Yes, yes! This will work!"  
>Isabella took the wand; it fit perfectly in her hands. It felt as if she connected to the wand, that the wand was part of her. A warm sensation surrounded her, this was her wand.<p>

"10 ½ inches, it's made of Cherry and a Phoenix tail feather. A very strong wand, Miss Evans, but I know you can handle it. I remember the first day your parents walked though those doors. It was only a few years before..." Mr. Ollivander paused and then shuttered as if repealing a bad memory. "Well, it seems like Hagrid is back to pick you up." He pointed to behind Isabella.

There he was, smiling like a goof. Isabella smiled back to him. Then he lifted up a cage, it had a small little owl.

Isabella rushed outside to Hagrid.

"Hagrid, is that- is that for me?" she asked.

"I messed your birthday so here's me present for ya, ya can say it's a bit of a tradition." said Hagrid. He was smiling so widely that Isabella was afraid that his mouth would fall off. "Come on, time ter get yehr schoolbooks."

The next chapter is all about Isabella's parents and what happened to them, and I'd really like some review about my work! Thank you! Chp. 4 should be up either tomorrow or later tonight, idk, I'm getting sleepy...


	4. Alice and Jacob

Chapter 4: Alice and Jacob

The next night Hagrid left to return to Hogwarts to finish up some game keeper business; so Isabella was left under the care of Hannah and Neville. Neville took a liking to Isabella; he said that she reminded him of old friend but he didn't elaborate on it for Isabella. She companied them for dinner every night; Isabella loved Hannah's, or as Isabella like to call her Madame Hannah's, cooking. It was much better than the piles of muck her Aunt Doris gave her.

"This is delicious, Madame H." said Isabella one night at dinner.

"Why thank you, Isabella." said Hannah.

"Brilliant as always…" Neville's voice was trailing off.

"Neville, dear," Hannah put her hand onto his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, peachy, just peachy…" said Neville, he got up and walked upstairs to his and Hannah's loft over the Leaky Cauldron.

"Is he alright?" asked Isabella.

"He's fine, probably just has something on his mind." said Hannah. "So Hagrid gave you the owl for your birthday right?"

"Yes, it's July 3rd."

"Ah, well happy belated birthday; have you decided a name yet?"

Isabella looked at the small, gray owl. "I know it's a girl, so I think I'll name her Athena."

Isabella's owl, or Athena, snapped her beck in agreement.

"Oh, isn't that pretty, I guess she likes it too."

"It is the name of the Greek god of wisdom, her pet was an owl and it was also like her symbol; so if you saw an owl watching over you then it meant that you had been blissed with wisdom."

"Hmm… quite the little scholar, aren't we?"

"Madame Hannah," Isabella began after a long pause.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me about my parents and how they died…"

"Alice and Jacob Evans dead? Rubbish!" said Hannah. "No, no dear, they are just M.I.A."

"Why would they be missing in action?" asked Isabella.

Hannah sighed.

"I guess I'm going to have to start from the beginning: at Hogwarts, your mother and father were two years younger than Neville and I. Neville was familiar with your mother since she was in Gryffindor like Neville, while your father was in Ravenclaw; but since they were younger than us, I regret to say I didn't know them as well. Though Neville told me that they butted heads a lot, your father was a bit of a prankster and your mother was miss studious. "But the first time I met them was during the Battle of Hogwarts. All the students who were underage were told to evacuate the castle, but your parents were prescient. They both snuck back into the castle to fight of the Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?" asked Isabella. "Aren't they the wizards who worked for Lord Voldemort, right? I read about them in this book in Flourish and Blotts; a book by a witch by the name Hermione Granger."

"Before she changed her name." muttered Hannah. "Yes, that's exactly what they were, you-know-who's followers. Anyway, your mother teamed up with me as we fought against a Death Eater; I thought we were goners as he blasted us to the ground and he raised his wand about to cast the worst curse a wizard can use when this blot of red sparks knocks him off his feet. It was your father, he helped me up then your mother and I could tell when they first looked into each other's eyes that they were a match made in heaven. After the Battle of Hogwarts, they began to see each other and they fell so deeply in love; and after Hogwarts they only waited six months before they got married. Oh I have a picture here-"

Hannah stood up and ran over to a table against the wall and picked up a picture.

"Sorry about the quality, it was taken over 15 years ago." said Hannah as she handed Isabella the picture.

There was her mother and her father smiling back at her, dancing to some unknown music. Alice Evans was beautiful in her wedding gown; her deep red hair stayed in prefect curls as Isabella's father, Jacob, spun her around. Jacob was a tall man, very thin, yet he was very built. Isabella looked so much like her mother, but then she had her father's bright green eyes, not her mother's bright blue eyes. Then as she looked closer, she noticed her uncle, and probably her grandparents on her mother's side, smiling at her parents.

"You- you were there?" asked Isabella.

"No, unfortunately I wasn't able to make it; but some friends of ours sent it to Neville and I." said Hannah. "After the wedding, Jacob and Alice joined the Order-"

"What is this Order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix was founded by the greatest head master of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Its original purpose was to defeat he-who-must-not-be-named; but after he was defeated the Order changed its purpose to rounding up the Death Eaters." explained Hannah. "Your parents were one of the most brilliant witch and wizard pair I'd ever seen.

"You're parents had dueled some of the most skilled Death Eaters that escaped, and they managed to come out of the battle without a single scratch. But that night they went missing, oh my, it was a rare accession for them not to win. I believe that they were too worried about your safety then their own; they left their guard down to protect you."

Isabella tried to sallow the lump that had just formed in her throat, was she really the reason way her parents were missing or worse: dead?

"So how did they go… missing?" asked Isabella, she stroke the picture. "I mean, what happened to them, exactly?"

"Well, it's quite complex." said Hannah. "Even I have a hard time really understanding it. You see, what the theory seems to be is that it was a failed attempt at creating a new spell by combining two."

"It's so horrible that it had to happen to them." said Isabella. A tear rolled down her cheeks.

"Don't worry darling." said Hannah. "There is something I can show you that will help your confidence a little."

"What?" sniffed Isabella.

"I'll be right back." said Hannah, she returned a few moments later with a piece of parchment in her hands. "Read this."

"What is this?" asked Isabella. She began to read the names:

_Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, George Weasley…_

The list went on and on, and then Isabella found the names of her parents:

…_Alice Bradley, Jacob Evans…_

"Wh-why are you showing this to me?" asked Isabella.

"This is the list of names of Dumbledore's Army, it was like the student version of the Order." explained Hannah. "Your parents joined while they were at school. You know what is so special about this piece of paper."

"It had a lot of famous signatures?"

Hannah laughed. "No, it's bewitched. Let's say if someone with their name written on this lists betrays the group, they'll be hexed and there is another special quality on the list."

Isabella's ears perked up.

"The list only shows certain members of the D.A." said Hannah.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it only shows the one that are alive." said Hannah.

"What?"

"That's right, your parent are alive, but we just don't know what happened to them." explained Hannah. "We have the best of the best tracking down various leads to try and find your parents."

"Do you think that maybe one day, I'll find them?" asked Isabella.

"I don't want to get your hopes up but I think that it is very possible." said Hannah.

"Thank you." mouthed Isabella as she hugged Hannah. "Can I keep this picture?"

"Yeah, and I'll see if I can find anymore pictures of them lying around." said Hannah. "I'll put together a little scrap book together."

"Sounds great." said Isabella. "I think I'm going to head to bed."

"Night."

"Night."

Isabella went upstairs to her room and she examined all her school supplies. She now was the owner of a wand, a cauldron, an owl, and many, _many_ spell books.

She sat down on her bed, was this all happening to her? Was she actually staying in a wizard tavern, in a secret wizard community, because she was about to go to a wizarding school because she was a witch? It was all so surreal! Could she handle it all?

Then she ran her fingers over her wand and then she decided. She was going to do this; she was going to devote the next seven years of her life to study to become the brightest and top witch to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. Then she was going to find her parents and bring them back home. Back home to her.

Thank you all for reading, I know that this was a pretty short chapter, but it's a really important one just like the next chapter so I hope you like it and please review :D

~rachel 3


	5. The Boy with the Pink Fuzz Ball

Chapter 5: The Boy with the Pink Fuzz Ball

Like Hannah said, Neville left for Hogwarts the week before August. Isabella hadn't seen Hagrid in a few weeks either, so Isabella spent most of August leading up to Hogwarts helping Hannah with the chores around the Leaky Cauldron, practicing spells, or wandering around Diagon Alley trying to find out more about what she is.

She especially liked to wander around Flourish and Blotts, the only book store in Diagon Alley. Also she often wandered around the joke shop: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She never saw any repeating costumers at any off the shops she went into, well, at least not ones her age. Every day she would watch a new witch or wizard walk into Ollivander's and walk out with their first wand.

One particular morning, Isabella walked down to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions because she had to pick up something for Hannah. It was right next to Flourish and Blotts so first Isabella slipped in to see if there was anything new.

She went straight back toward the fiction section. Usually there was no one back there besides her, since most people were just getting their school books. But today, Isabella wasn't alone for there was another boy sitting in the corner. His hair was sticking up and it was a dark brown almost black. As Isabella moved closer she noticed that he was wearing rectangular glasses that covered his brilliant green eyes. His book almost completely covered his shirt but Isabella could still make out the words "Holyhead Harpies."

"Holyhead Harpies?" she asked the boy. "What are the Holyhead Harpies?"

The boy looked up at her; he was in shock that a pretty girl such as Isabella was talking to them.

"They are a Quidditch team." said the boy. "My mum played for them for a little while before she and my dad started a family." He stopped and blushed as he realized he was saying too much.

"Oh, interesting, do you play?"

"A bit, my dad was a Seeker on the Gryffindor team when he was a Hogwarts; my brother's a bloody good Beater; and I told you 'bout my mum. I don't really have a position, but my dad is teaching me how to be a better Seeker. I'm Al by the way." He put out his hand.

"Isabella." She smiled and shook his hand. "Are you a first year as well?"

"Actually, yes, yes I am." said Al.

"Are you nervous?" asked Isabella.

"Why would I be nervous?"

Isabella didn't realize until then that most of the first years have magical parents who probably already told them about Hogwarts and what goes on when you first step into the famous castle.

"Uh- so- yes- what exactly is that thing on your shoulder?" she asked trying to avoid Al's question.

"Oh, this? It's a Pygmy Puff, my Uncle George sells them. Isn't he adorable? His name is Arty." Al petted the Pygmy Puff with his index figure. "Well, I best be going now. I need to go find my brother and sister. I'll see you on the train then?"

"Yeah." she smiled.

"Well, bye then." Al gave a little awkward wave and started to walk through the crowd.

"Oi! Al where did you go?" yelled a boy.

"Yes, mummy and daddy were worried about you." said a little girl.

"Sorry, I got a bit-," Al looked back at Isabella, but she hid her face in a book. "Distracted."

Isabella waited until Al and his siblings were gone before she left as well. She walked next door to Madam Malkin's. The bell rang as she opened the door. There was no one in the front but Isabella could hear voices in the back.

"Madam Malkin!" she called. "I'm here to pick up Madame Hannah's robes she ordered."

"Oh, Isabella is that you?" Madam Malkin popped her head out of a changing room. Isabella had met Madam Malkin early when she first came with Hannah to get her school robes. "Oh, hello child; please come in there right in the corner."

Isabella walked into the dressing room. The first thing she saw was the same dark brown hair that stuck up.

"Al?" asked Isabella.

Al turned around, but it wasn't him. It looked just like him though, beside the fact that this boy didn't have glasses and his eyes were deep brown instead of green.

"Well, you must be Miss Distraction." said the boy, with a giant smirk on his face.

"What?"

"My brother Al, he said he got distracted by something. Obviously he was referring to you. My name's James by the way."

"Isabella Evans."

"James, Lily wants to stop and say hi to Uncle George." At that moment Al also walked into the increasingly small tailoring room. "Isabella?"

"Yup, he fancies you." whispered James in Isabella's ear. Isabella's ears turned red.

"What? Are you staking me?" asked Al.

"No, just picking something up for Madame Hannah; that's all." said Isabella.

"Oh, right…" Al said awkwardly.

"Well, I best be going. Thank you Madam Malkin. See you on the train." Isabella walked out of the shop.

"You fancy her, you fancy her!" James sang.

"Shut up." Al smacked the back of his brother's head. "You are such a git!"

Al knew then and there that he was going to see her again and the next time he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

Isabella walked back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner with Hannah. It wasn't like their normal dinners in the upstairs apartment that Hannah lived in. Tonight, since Hannah had to work the late shift, Isabella was eating her dinner down in the pub. She sat at the edge of the bar and her feet were dangling off the floor. Hannah finally managed to have a conversation with Isabella as she washed out the glasses behind the bar.

"So how was your day?" asked Hannah.

"Nothing special happened, I just walked around like usual." said Isabella.

"Meet any first years?"

"Yeah, I met this one boy, his name was Al." said Isabella. "He was really nice and I met his older brother too, and I think they have a little sister but I'm not too sure." Isabella took a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"Really? Now where did you meet them?" asked Hannah.

"Uh- I met Al in Flourish and Blotts and then I met James when I ran into them in the robe shop." explained Isabella.

"What did you think of them? Were they cute?"

"Madame H!" blushed Isabella. "I don't know, I guess, but at this age I must say that looks are not what I care about when it comes to boys."

"Okay sure and I am a Nargle eating Crumple-Horned Snorkack." joked Hannah.

"What?"

"Oh never mind, but I'm glad you made a friend." said Hannah.

"Yeah, but they won't be back here again. All the kids I meet are here for the day and I never see them again." said Isabella.

"Don't worry, at Hogwarts, it will be much different." explained Hannah. "There will be about 40 kids in your year that averages out to about 10 per house and your housemates will become your family so try your best not to get into fights with them."

"That's not a very big class." said Isabella. "At my old school we had about 100 kids in our year, and that was just in elementary school."

"The Wizarding world and the Muggle world are very different." explained Hannah. "And Hogwarts is the best school in Britain, so it is better to have a smaller class; you get more one on one with your Professors."

"I guess." Isabella made a mental note about what Hannah said and mentally crossed off her calendar. She had only 2 more weeks till Hogwarts; and with that thought, a knot formed in her stomach.

Sorry that it is sooo short! :( But the next chapter is a bit longer than normal so I hope that makes up for it! :) And if you're wondering how I update so quickly, it's because this is all prewritten on word... I don't know if I've said that yet... sooo yeah... please review! I'd like to know your thoughts!


	6. The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 6: The Hogwarts Express

It was the morning of September 1st and Isabella couldn't sit still for her life. First of all she couldn't believe that most of July and August had passed so quickly. It seemed like only yesterday that she met Hagrid in the park. She kept pacing around her room; she had nothing to keep her occupied. She had packed all her bags weeks ago, now all she could do is wait and wait and wait…

_Knock, Knock._

"Isabella, can I come in?" asked Hannah, her head poking through the door.

Isabella nodded.

"It's almost 10 we better get going." Hannah walked over to Isabella's trunks. "Are you nervous?"

"A bit, I just hope I can make some friends." Isabella said shyly.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine." Hannah said reassuringly.

"Thanks, I'll grab Athena." Isabella walked over to the little sitting table in the corner and picked up her small gray owl. "Are you going to bring me there?"

"Of course." she said with a smile. "It's nerve racking with parent, I can't imagine what it would be like without them."

Isabella felt her heart stop, in a way Hannah just called herself and parental figure to Isabella. Hannah had been the closest thing to a mother Isabella has ever known.

"Alright, time to get going." said Hannah. "_Locomotor_." Hannah pointed at the trunk with her wand. The trunk began to float a few inches off the floor.

"Magic is bloody brilliant." Isabella smiled.

"It's a handy little trick. Come on, time to go."

Isabella and Hannah arrived at King's Cross at exactly 10:45. As they walked through the train station, they seemed to be attracting some wandering eyes mostly thanks to the fact Isabella was carrying an owl and that Hannah was still wearing her witch clothes and not Muggle ones.

"Come on, just like every year: packed with Muggles. Hurry up, Isabella; we need to get to the Platform."

"What number is it?" asked Isabella.

"Platform 9 ¾." said Hannah. "Right through there." She pointed to the wall right in between 9 and 10. "Best take a running start if you're nervous."

"So, is that a portal of some sorts?"

Hannah nodded.

"Now go!" She pushed Isabella towards the wall. For some reason Isabella held her breath as she hit the wall. Instantaneously she was on an alternate platform. Scattered around the platform there were all different kinds of wizarding families; large ones, small ones, and there even were some Muggle parents. Almost everyone was dressed in robes or poorly matched Muggle clothes.

The platform had an interesting atmosphere; parents saying their good byes to their children and mothers crying because their youngest is going off to their first year at Hogwarts. There were even some young couples snogging in the corners. But the most incredible thing to Isabella was the giant red Hogwarts express that sat in the middle of it all.

"Ok," Hannah turned to Isabella. "They'll get your trunk for you so just keep an eye on Athena's cage."

"I will… thank you, Madame Hannah, for everything you've done for me the past month and a half."

Hannah had tears in her eyes; she gave Isabella a big bear hug.

"Write every week, okay?" said Hannah as she hugged Isabella. "Oh and watch out for those Slytherin boys, they are nothing but trouble."

"Of course." Isabella let go of Hannah.

The train whistle blew.

"Alright, that's the 5 minute whistle; you best to start to board." said Hannah.

She walked Isabella over to the closest boarding spot on the train; Isabella was half way up the stairs before she turned around.

"Can I come back for Christmas?" she asked Hannah.

"Of course." Hannah said very motherly like.

Isabella walked onto the train; the passage ways were very cramped and narrow and by the time Isabella got on, and most of the cabins were taken. Isabella didn't know exactly where to sit, she looked for some kids who looked as young as her but there was no luck.

"Looking for the first year car?" asked a girl, she looked about 16 and she had a badge so Isabella assumed she was important.

"Is it too obvious?"

"One more cart down." said the girl.

Isabella nodded thank you and walked to the next car. She looked in each cabin; for the most part they were all full until she got to the last one in the car. In the car there was only one girl, she had bright, wavy red hair that was almost the length of her backside. Her nose was hidden behind the book she was reading. Isabella knocked on the door and the girl jumped.

"Can I sit here?" she asked.

The girl nodded.

"I'm Isabella, Isabella Evans."

"Rose Weasley, but you can call me Rosie." She put her book down on the seat. "So, I assume you're a first year as well."

"Yeah, I am."

"Interesting, so what house do you think you'll be sorted into?" asked Rosie, who was just trying to keep the conversation going.

"Well my mother was in Gryffindor and my father was in Ravenclaw but I'm not sure exactly what house I'd be sorted into." said Isabella.

"Really? So were mine, in Gryffindor! Everyone on my dad's side has been in Gryffindor; but my mum is a Muggle born so it's not as important to her as it is to my dad." said Rosie. "But my dad is a bit paranoid about it."

"Weird, my mum is a Muggle born as well."

"Ha, what a coincidence; so Isabella, do you have a nickname? Like Bella, Bells, Izzy?" Rosie said quickly.

"My uncle told me that my mum called me Izzy…" mumbled Isabella.

"Well, that's what I'll call you then." smiled Rosie.

"So, I see our cousin has already given you the official nickname, huh?" There in the door stood two boys with extremely messy black hair. Isabella recognized them immediately. It was James and Al, the two boys she had met in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago. "Oh, hello." said Isabella.

"How do you know Isabella?" asked Rosie.

"We met her in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago." explained Al.

"This is the girl I told you about, the one Al fancies." James whispered to Rosie.

"So you were saying something about nicknames." said Isabella.

"Oh right; well, it seems that my cousin over here likes to give her friends nicknames." said Al.

"Yeah, but the only person she calls by their first name is Al."

"Al isn't your first name?" asked Isabella.

"No, Al's first name is-," James didn't finish his sentence since Al punched him square in the jaw.

"Bloody HELL! What was that for?" asked James.

"He's right, there is nothing wrong with your name. You're named after two of the most influential Headmasters of Hogwarts." said Rosie.

"Al… does Al stand for Albus… as in Albus Dumbledore? The first and only Headmaster to be buried on Hogwarts." said Isabella.

Everyone in their cabin went silent.

"You sound more like my Aunt Hermione then Rosie does." said James.

"And to answer your question it does." said Al, who was now sitting next to Isabella and James next to Rosie.

"I don't see what's wrong with that…" said Isabella. "Dumbledore was a great wizard. I've read all about him. He was something, wasn't he?"

"My theory is that Albus doesn't like the pressure that comes with the name." said Rosie.

"Are you named after anyone, James?" asked Isabella.

"Yeah, my granddad; He was a brilliant wizard before he was killed by Lord Voldemort." said James. "But my dad got even in the end."

"Oh no, not this story again… you know my mum and dad helped bring him down too you know!" snapped Rosie.

"But it was my dad who killed him." said Al.

"Well, technically, Lord Voldemort killed himself. Now may I remind you that my parents destroyed 2 of the 7 horcuxes while your dad only destroyed 1!" snapped Rosie.

"Hello, did you forget who our father is?" asked James.

"The boy who lived: Harry Potter!" said Al.

"Are you really fighting over who has more famous or important parents?" asked Isabella. "To be completely honest I don't know who your mums and dads are exactly."

Rosie, James, and Al looked at her in complete shock. They couldn't believe that she didn't even know who Harry Potter is.

"Really?" asked James.

Isabella nodded slowly.

"Phew, what a refresher!" said James, he fell back into his seat. "You know most blokes that try to friend me and Al are just fame hunters."

"So why are your parents famous?" asked Isabella. "I was raised by Muggles so I'm not completely in tune with everything, I guess you could say."

Rosie could have sworn she heard Isabella refer to her parents in a present tense, but then she thought about her Uncle Harry and her parents' friend Neville and she decided to drop it.

Rosie watched Isabella's face as Al and James told her the story of her Uncle Harry, her mum, and her dad. She had heard the story so many times, Rosie was afraid she'd say it in her sleep. Rosie didn't know exactly why she was raised by Muggles but had wizarding parents; maybe the reason was the same as her Uncle Harry's. But that couldn't happened more than once… or could it?

"Really… you can really spilt your soul into 7 pieces?" asked Isabella. "That's disgusting!" This comment snapped Rosie into reality.

"Yeah, we know." said James.

"It's strange that it's not in any of the textbooks…" said Isabella.

"Well, that's because the Order wants to keep most of it all hushed up." explained Al.

"You do know what the Order is, right?" asked James. "The Order of the Phoenix?"

"Yeah, before my parents disappeared, they were part of the Order." Isabella's voice went soft.

Rosie's ears perked up; she thought she had heard that name before but she wasn't sure. Evans was the name of the Order members that practically disappeared of the face of the world. That would explain a few things

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents." said Rosie. "But if it helps, we've all lost family in the Order; it's part of the job."

The awkward tension grew with every silent second that followed; to Isabella it felt like they were sitting in complete silence for hours and hours when it was only a few minutes.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!"

A girl with long almost white hair opened the door angrily basically slamming it open. She was quite older than the 4 of them. Rosie stuck her noise back into her book and Al moved closer to Isabella.

"I swear I'm going to chop your bloody little peeping eyes out!" yelled the girl; Isabella could barely understand what she was saying through her thick French accent. "I swear that you won't live to see Lily come to Hogwarts if you keep that up! Mum says that you're almost as bad as Uncle Ronald when he was your age."

"That's what mum said." Rosie muttered to Isabella. Isabella let out a small little giggle.

"Oh," the girl turned her attention to Isabella. "And who, may I add, are you?"

"Isabella Evans, nice to meet you…"

"Victoire Weasley." said the girl. "If you didn't already figure it out already, these are my noisy little cousins." Al let out a small grunt. "Now, back to why I came here: James, why did you sneak up on me and Teddy?"

"Because he is my god-brother and I wanted to say good-bye. Now, I don't believe that's an unreasonable reason don't you think? I mean, it's the first year without him here."

"Ennuyeux belettes peu, pourquoi dois-je avoir á s'occuper d'eux." Victoire muttered under her breath as she left the cart.

"Rosie," James said once Victoire left. "What did evil cousin Vicky say?"

"Something that has to do with: 'I'm going to send Peeves on James when we get to Hogwarts' or 'I'm going to turn James into a ghost when we get to Hogwarts." said Rosie with her nose still stuck in her book and without looking up.

James turned almost completely white. He said he had to go find his mates and took off.

"That's not what she said, is it?" asked Isabella.

"No, she said: 'annoying little weasels, why do I have to look after them?'" said Rosie.

"How do you know French?" asked Isabella.

"Our Aunt Fleur has been teaching me the basics." said Rosie. "She's been teaching me for a while now, was my mum's idea. She said that knowing more than one language in the Muggle world can get you far as well as in the Wizarding world."

Al laughed at the fact Rosie was thinking about a Muggle career and Isabella sat there smiling at the two of them. The rest of the train ride, Isabella, Rosie, and Al discussed their wands and some other stuff as well. Isabella told them about how she stayed in the Leaky Cauldron for most of the summer.

Before she knew it, the three of them were changing into their robes and were getting off the train. As they arrived on the platform, Isabella heard a familiar voice calling out.

how is everyone liking it? let me know!

~rachel 3


	7. The Lion, Serpent, Eagle, and Badger

Chapter 7: The Lion, the Serpent, the Eagle, and the Badger

"Firs' years, Firs' years, over here… firs' years!" called Hagrid. The three first years made their way through the crowd and came face to face with the 10 foot tall man.

"Hello, Hagrid." The three said in unison.

"Well 'ello there, Isabella, Al, and little Rosie." said Hagrid. "Firs' years, follow me to the boats."

"Boats?" asked Isabella.

"During your first year you go across the Black Lake to get to Hogwarts; James said that the view is bloody brilliant when he first came to Hogwarts." said Al as he helped her into their boat, and then Rosie.

"What a gentleman." Isabella said to Rosie.

Hagrid's boat led the way as the first years sailed across the Lake; they sailed under the cover of night. Isabella looked down at the water and there seemed to be a giant monster like creature swimming almost at the surface of the water.

"Al is there a monster in the Black Lake?" asked Isabella.

"James says there's a giant man eating squid in the lake but it's probably just rubbish." said Al.

Isabella nodded and looked straight ahead and there it was: Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle was magnificent, she had read _Hogwarts: A History_ so she had seen picture of the thousand year old castle but seeing it in person gave Isabella chills.

When they reached the shore, the first years followed Hagrid up the path to the castle entrance. Isabella almost tripped a few times over her robes as they walked up the steep path. Once they reached the grand entrance, there was a plump little wizard waiting for them.

"Ah, thank you Hagrid. Follow me first years." said the wizard. The short wizard walked a few paces in front of them. He stopped right before a grand doorway. "My name is Professor Flitwick and in a few short moments you will be sorted into your house where you will stay your entire career at Hogwarts." Professor Flitwick's voice was high and squeaky. "Now, wait here for moment as we prepare for you inside the Great Hall." He opened the door slightly and wiggled his way through.

Isabella could feel the excitement but also the nerves in the air. Most of her classmates were talking about the houses they believe that they would be placed in. A boy with very, very blonde hair walked over to the Isabella and the others.

"Hey you!" said the boy.

Isabella, Al, and Rosie turned around.

"Aren't you the Potter boy?" asked the boy. "And you another Weasley?"

Al and Rosie nodded slowly.

The boy and some of the guys around him began to laugh hysterically. Isabella looked to Al then Rosie then back to Al. They all were in a bit of shock.

"Can we help you?" asked Rosie.

"Oh, almost forgot you were there." said the boy. "My mistake."

"You were laughing at us remember?" said Al.

"Who are you?" asked Isabella, she said what everyone was thinking.

"Scorpius Malfoy." said the boy.

Rosie looked at her feet and Al rubbed his arm.

"But, who may I ask are you?" asked Malfoy as he put his arm around Isabella's shoulder.

Isabella pushed off his arm. "Isabella Evans."

"Evans, aye?" asked Malfoy, then he leaned in closer. "Better not associate your fine self with this lot, only gonna dig you a deeper hole. Why don't you come hang out with us, at least we don't have dirty blood."

Isabella guessed that he was referring to Rosie's mum who was a Muggle-born, but she didn't quite understand what he meant about Al...

"No thank you, I'd rather hang out with them than stand next to you and your unstoppable blabbering any longer, I don't know how your friends tell with you. I'm already starting to get a headache." snapped Isabella.

"Temper, temper." Malfoy shook his finger in her face.

Right as Isabella was going to grab Malfoy's finger and rip it off; Professor Flitwick came back and said:

"They're ready for you." He pushed the doors completely open.

Isabella was speechless as she began to walk down the aisle to where they would be sorted into their houses. There were four long tables and above each table was a flag with an animal of some sort on them. The one that was the farthest to the right had a green and silver flag with a snake or serpent on it; the one right next to it was a table with a bronze and navy blue flag with a eagle; the one directly to the left of Isabella and the others was maroon and gold with a lion (Isabella was pretty sure that table was the famous Gryffindor); and finally the table farthest to the left was a yellow and black flag with a badger.

But Isabella couldn't keep her eyes off the brilliant ceiling. She had read that it was bewitched to mirror the sky outside. That night the ceiling was filled with stars and a full moon.

"Welcome first years." said an elder woman; she got up from the center of the table as Flitwick wobbled over to the other empty seat.

Isabella looked to the teacher's long table; there was a variety of different teachers. She noticed that Hagrid was staring at her and her friends and she gave a little wave and he smiled back; she also saw Neville who was fixated on the elderly woman.

Behind the teachers' table, Isabella noticed a particularly strange statue. It was a Phoenix with its wings completely spread out. Isabella looked closer at the statue, there was a plaque at the bottom that read: "_In honor of those who had died during the Battle of Hogwarts and during the war for a more peaceful world."_

"My name is Professor McGonagall, your headmistress for the next seven years." said the elderly woman. "It is now time for the 1000 year old tradition of the sorting of the houses. As I call your name, you will come sit here on this stool; then I shall place the sorting hat on your head and fate shall take it from there."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat then unrolled the list with the names of the first years.

"First, Scorpius Malfoy." said Professor McGonagall.

Malfoy walked up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

"Slytherin!" said the Sorting Hat.

Isabella jumped back as the hat spoke; she grabbed Rosie arm. Rosie looked to her and mouthed _"Magic remember."_

The table with a serpent as its mascot cheered as Malfoy walked over proudly.

"Next…" said Professor McGonagall. The group got smaller and smaller as the first years were called up one by one.

"Albus Potter…" said Professor McGonagall.

The room went silent as he walked up to the chair. He sat down on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on top of his head.

"Potter?" said the hat. "This is an easy choice: Gryffindor!"

Isabella, Rosie, and the whole Gryffindor table cheered as Albus walked over and took a seat next to James. There were only a few first years left after that; the next two were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Then it was Rosie's turn.

"Rose Weasley…" called Professor McGonagall.

Rose looked to Isabella before she went to get sorted; her face was almost white because of her nerves. McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"Another Weasley?" said the sorting hat. "I swear that you lot breed like flies, I know just where to put you: Gryffindor!"

Isabella clapped quietly and the Gryffindor table cheered loudly. Rosie let out a sigh of relief as she jumped down from the stool. She sat down next to a dark skinned girl with long black curls and across from Albus and James.

Isabella waited patiently for her turn. The crowd got smaller and smaller as each first year was placed in their houses.

"Kevin Patil." said Professor McGonagall.

The only other first year left, besides Isabella, walked up to Professor McGonagall.

"Ravenclaw!" said the Sorting Hat.

"Isabella Evans." Professor McGonagall said finally.

Isabella felt all the eyes on her; her stomach was in knots as she walked up the steps to the chair. She sat down and her feet dangled from the chair. McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"Fresh mind…" said the Hat, Isabella jumped a bit on the stool. "You could do well in Ravenclaw…" Isabella wondered if the rest of the school could hear the Sorting Hat as well. "But then again your potential is greater there…"

"I want to be with my friends, I want to be with my friends." Isabella kept muttering under her breathe. "I finally have friends, please..."

"Well then, you should be a… Gryffindor!" said the Sorting Hat.

The whole Great Hall seemed to cheer as she jumped down from the stool and ran over to the Gryffindor table were most of the table was standing up.

"Well done!" said James who patted her on the back.

"'Ello there Isabella, names Annie Jordan." said the girl with dark skin who was sitting next to Rosie. She put out her hand and Isabella shook it.

"Annie's dad is an old friend of the family." said Rosie. "And she's in James' year."

"Nice to meet you." said Isabella.

The commotion died down as Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Now that our first years are sorted into their houses it is time for the beginning of term feast; but first some reminders: the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds for all students and Mr. Filch wants me to remind you that magic is not allowed in the halls in between classes. Also a new reminder: the Dudgeons by the Slytherin common room are out of bounds and any students caught in there will face serious dispensary actions." Professor McGonagall's eyes seemed to land on Isabella, Rosie, and AL when she said this. "Now let's in enjoy this wonderful feast."

Then food appeared magically on all the tables and everyone started to pile their plates with treats. Isabella picked slowly; most of the time she had to ask Rosie, who she was sitting next to, what some of the foods were.

"So Isabella, what do you think of Hogwarts?" asked James with a mouthful mashed potatoes, so it sounded like: "Doe Isa-mella wha do choo ank of Hog-whas?"

"It's brilliant." said Isabella with a smile.

"James, are you going out for Quidditch again?" asked Annie.

"Yeah, do you know when tryouts are?" asked James.

"Annie is the commentator for the Quidditch matches." explained Rosie.

"Yup, just like my dad when he was in school." said Annie.

As James and Annie discussed Quidditch Victoire walked over to three of the newest Gryffindors.

"Congratulations!" she said. She hugged Rosie and Isabella and then leaned across the table and messed up Al's hair even more.

"Thanks." Rosie and Isabella said in unison.

"Well I just wanted to say hello." said Victoire, she glared at James. "Well good luck with the new term." she walked back over to her group of giggling girls.

At the end of the feast, Isabella, Rosie, and Al were all stuffed and ready for bed.

"Prefects, make sure the first years get to their common rooms safely." said Professor McGonagall as the students tried to get to the door.

"First year Gryffindor, follow me." said a boy. "First year Gryffindor." the boy repeated this about 10 times until it was only Gryffindors in the hall. The boy and another girl led the Gryffindors upstairs that were moving! The stairs brought them to a life size portrait of a, well, fat lady. The portrait swung open and formed a passage to the Gryffindor common room.

"The password for the common room is: _Bowtruckle._" said the girl who was leading the first years.

"Boys on the left, girls the right." said the Prefect boy.

Isabella and Rosie said goodnight to Al and then followed some girls up the winding stairs. They were sharing room and when they walked into their room, their trunks, owls, and three other girls were in the room.

The room was circular just like the tower where the Gryffindor common room was located. There were five four-post beds. The room was had a color scheme of maroon and gold.

"Hi, I'm Valerie Thomas." said a dark skin girl; she had dark brown hair that was styled in a bob.

"Hey, Isabella Evans and this is Rosie Weasley." said Isabella. "You can call me Izzy if you want, Rosie seems to like it."  
>"Well nice to meet you Izzy, and you too Rosie." said Valerie.<p>

"Are you by any chance Dean Thomas' daughter?" asked Rosie.

"Yup, he's my daddy." said Valerie.

"I'm Mia Harvey." said a girl with fair skin and light blonde, pin straight hair. "Muggle born," she said bluntly. "And proud of it."

"Good for you." said a completely plain girl. There was nothing distinct about her; brown hair, brown eye, average color skin, yet she was very pretty. "By the way, my name is Summer Webb."

"Now that we have all introduced ourselves; I think it would be a good idea that we get ourselves ready for bed. We have a big day tomorrow." said Rosie.

The rest of the girls moaned; they wanted to get to know each other better but there was no getting around Rosie.

Isabella got into her plaid pajama bottoms and a tank top. Her bed was right next to the window. She got into her maroon sheets and waited until all her roommates were asleep. Once she heard the last of her roommates' heavy breathing; Isabella climbed out of her bed quietly and walked over to the window. It was a large window, covered by maroon drapes tied together by gold rope. The window had an amazing view of the Black Lake and the small town the resided right outside the Hogwarts grounds. She recalled Rosie (or was it Al?) saying that the town was called Hogsmeade.

Isabella still couldn't believe that she was at a Wizarding school because she was in fact a witch who had magically abilities! She had waited all her life for something magical to happen to her and now that it was finally here she couldn't stop smiling.

Athena tweeted quietly in her cage and Isabella thought she heard the voice of one of her roommates. She sprung up, but it was nothing; she yawned loudly and climbed back into bed because tomorrow she would officially become a wizard, no, a witch in training.

well, I decided to post this instead of doing my AP World hw, yuck! since I can't focus, oh well, enjoyy :) and pretty pretty please review!


	8. A Little Friendly Competition

_**This Chapter is dedicated to my dog Dorrie, you'll be forever in my heart no matter where you are 3**_

Chapter 8: A Little Friendly Competition

The next morning Isabella took her time getting dressed; she slowly put on her gray skirt, white collared shirt, and gray vest with the Hogwarts crest on the chest. She had to ask for Rosie's assistance with her maroon and gold stripe tie though.

When they were all finally dressed Isabella, Rosie, Summer, Valerie, and Mia walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most of the school was already there when the five young Gryffindors arrived. The tables were filled with gossiping girls, immature boys, and lots and lots of food.

After breakfast the girls had their first class at Hogwarts: Charms.

Isabella followed Rosie to the front of the class room. Though Isabella usually didn't like to sit right in front of the teacher, she decided to put up with it.

"Welcome to Charms." said Professor Flitwick, in his high squeaky voice. "Today we are going to try something fairly easy. This charm is used to un-lock doors and other thing of that nature, no need for wands, now repeat after me; _Alohomora_."

"_Alohomora_." the class said in unison.

"Now, wands out." said Professor Flitwick. "Now, for this spell, point your wands at the lock in question and slightly flick your wrist when you cast the spell." Twenty some locks appeared on the students' desks.

"Now, give it a try." Professor Flitwick waved his wand and the locks levitated about 2 inches off the desk. "On my go. One… two… three… _Alohomora_."

"_Alohomora._" said Isabella; she got her lock to open on the second try, while Rosie, who she was sitting next to, got hers on the first.

"Well done Miss Weasley and Miss Evans. Fifteen points for Gryffindor." said Professor Flitwick.

Isabella looked around the room; Albus was still trying to unlock his. He was sitting next to a boy with dirty blonde hair and big brown eyes, he was also a Gryffindor; he was also trying to still unlock his but somehow managed to set his lock on fire.

"Oh my." said Flitwick. "_Aguamenti_." A jet of water came out of his wand and put out the fire. Isabella quickly grabbed her notebook and scribbled down on the first page "For Future Reference" and underlined it.

"Be more careful next time, Mr. Hubble." said Professor Flitwick.

The bell rang shortly after that and the Hufflepuffs that were also in that class headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts while all the Gryffindors headed to the dudgeons for Double Potions.

"Potions, stupid subject…" mumbled Al as he sat next to Rosie and across from Isabella at a four-person brewing table.

"I find it fascinating." said Rosie.

"That's what you say about every subject." Isabella said bluntly.

Rosie folded her arms across her chest and Al laughed. Then the boy who sat next to Al in Charms walked over.

"Can I sit here?" the boys asked Isabella.

She nodded and he sat down.

"Guys, this is Elliot Hubble. We share a dorm." said Al. "Elliot, this is my cousin Rosie and her friend Isabella."

"Nice to meet you." said Elliot.

"Settle down, settle down." said the Professor. "Welcome to first year Potions. My name is Professor Slughorn." Professor Slughorn was a medium height man, with a bit of a belly, the little hair he had left was gray, and his skin reminded Isabella of a crumpled up piece of parchment. "In this class you will learn the extremely useful art of Potion brewing."

Albus yawned, Rosie straightened up in her chair, and Elliot scrummed in his chair.

"Who can tell me what Bezoars are?" asked Professor Slughorn.

Rosie's hand shot up followed by Isabella's, who wasn't so confident about her answer. Slughorn looked at both girls.

"Uh, yes?" he pointed to Rosie.

"A Bezoar is a stone that is taken from a goat's stomach, it is also a powerful antidote." said Rosie.

"And your name is?" asked Professor Slughorn.

"Rosie Weasley, sir. You taught my parents." said Rosie.

"Ah, yes, yes… your Miss Granger's daughter, aren't you? I thought I recognized that brilliant mind." said Professor Slughorn. Some Slytherin, who were also in Potions, snickered at the comment. Isabella's hand was still up. "Uh yes, Miss…"

"Isabella Evans." said Isabella.

"Miss Evans do you have something to add?" asked Slughorn.

"Well, yes sir," said Isabella. "Rosie forgot to mention that they are extremely rare and it doesn't work on everything."

"Thank you, I had almost forgotten about that myself Miss Evans. Ten points for Gryffindor." said Slughorn; the Slytherins groaned. "Well for today's lesson I thought we would just get acquainted with our Potions kit, please take them out."

For half the class, Professor Slughorn, discussed the many different uses of half the objects in the kit; and then for the other half discussed what they were going to learn all year.

When the bell rang, everyone jumped up and almost ran to the door.

"Guys," said Isabella. "I'll meet you at dinner; I have to ask Professor Slughorn something." Rosie, Elliot, and Al nodded okay. Isabella walked over to the Professor who was staring at a bookshelf.

"Professor I have a question on the homework you assigned." said Isabella. "For number 5, I don't understand-," Professor Slughorn cut her off.

"Your mother- your mother was Alice Bradley… right?" asked Professor Slughorn.

"Yes, did you know her sir?" asked Isabella.

"Quite well…" Professor Slughorn pointed to a picture on the shelf. "I could tell right away, you look just like her, except for the eyes, I suppose you get those from your father. I could also tell by your mind, she was very good at remember little facts like you did you did early in class."

In the picture there was Professor Slughorn standing in the middle about ten students and right next to him on the left was someone Isabella recognized instantly. She had the same deep reddish brownish hair that Isabella had, her eyes were bright blue and beautiful. There she was, Alice Evans during her years at Hogwarts.

"That was taken her seventh year at Hogwarts; she was head girl you know? She was a brilliant witch, even though she was Muggleborn; don't get me wrong I have nothing against Muggleborns but you would never guess that she didn't grow up with a magical background." said Professor Slughorn. "I do miss her deeply…" he sighed. "I didn't know your father as well, would have liked to though. He wasn't as talented as Potions but I heard word from the teachers he knew his stuff."

"Professor, what is this photo from?" asked Isabella.

"Oh yes, well this photos are from my exceptionally talented students. See there, there's Rosie's mum there and Albus', I believe that's his name, father." Professor Slughorn pointed to a picture of a witch, who looked a lot like Rosie except she was older and had brown hair not red, and a wizard was an older version of Al as well. "Yes, her mum and his dad were very close friends; and here's Albus' mother, Ginny was a brilliant flyer and you didn't want to be on the wrong side of her Bat-Bogey Hex, that's for sure." He pointed to a witch with long red hair; she was holding a broom and smiling widely.

Professor Slughorn and Isabella looked at the photos in silence for a while then he said:

"Oh my look at the time, you best be getting to dinner before your friends go looking for you." said Professor Slughorn.

Isabella was a bit shocked at his change in tone but did as she was told. "Good night, Professor."

"As to you, as to you…" said Professor Slughorn, he was obviously lost in thought.

By the time Isabella had arrived at dinner, Rosie had already gone back to the Gryffindor common room.

"I reckon its 'cause you out smarted her today in Potions." Al said as Isabella sat down across from him and Elliot.

"What are you talking about?" asked Isabella.

"The reason why Rosie was in such a foul mood." explained Al. "She has a big fear of losing."

"But she didn't lose to me; she was the one who got the spell right today in charms. I don't understand." said Isabella.

"I don't either and I've known her all my life." shrugged Al. "Something to with pride I'm guessing."

"She seems like she would do anything to beat others." said Elliot.

"We could use her on the Quidditch team then, too bad she's so bloody clumsy." James sat down next to Isabella.

"Were you listening to our conversation?" asked Al.

"No, but I could tell who you were talking about." said James as he shoved a piece of bread in his mouth.

"She doesn't seem clumsy." said Isabella.

"Wait till you see her on a broom." said James as he swallowed the bread. "And the funniest thing is that Quidditch is a Weasley trait."

"Probably gets it from Aunt Hermione then." said Al.

"Ha, yeah." said James with a little smile.

"So I hear you have your first flying lesson tomorrow?" asked James.

"Yeah," said Isabella. "I'm a bit nervous about it; I don't know how to fly for my life."

"It's simple, Madam Hooch is a very good teacher." said James.

"You'll do fine, I can tell." said Al.

"Let me know how bad Rose does." James jumped up and ran after Annie Jordan and another third year Gryffindor.

"Is Rosie really that clumsy?" asked Elliot. Al laughed and Isabella shook her head, she was starting to feel like she finally belonged somewhere.

I hope you liked this, again I dedicate this to Dorrie, because if you really love someone you have to let them go.


	9. Flying 101

Chapter 9: Flying 101

The next afternoon, Rosie, Al, Elliot, and Isabella walked down to the Quidditch Pitch. Madam Hooch was not as old as some of the teachers but her pixie cut hair was graying. She was standing in front of two rows of broomsticks. Isabella's nerves were starting to get the best of her, and to make things worse the class was Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"Good afternoon class and welcome to flying!" said Madam Hooch.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch." said the first years.

"Already, go to a broom." said Madam Hooch.

Isabella choice a broom in the middle, Rosie was to the left, Al to the right, and Elliot was on the other side of Al.

"Now, I want you to place out your wand hand and say firmly: _up! _On my whistle." Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

Al got his on the first try, he told Isabella that was because he flies a lot at home.

"_Up!_" said Isabella, it didn't work the first time, and it didn't on the second, but the third the broom zoomed up into her hand.

"Nice job." whispered Al.

Isabella looked at her fellow classmates, very few of them managed to get the brooms to move. Rosie's was rolling on the ground and Elliot's wasn't even moving. She looked at the Slytherins, the end of Scorpius' broom was in the air but he couldn't seem to get the front end up.

Once everyone had a hold on their broom, Madam hooch blew her whistle again. "Alright, when I blow my whistle again you will kick off the ground, hard, hover for a moment, and then go back down." Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

Isabella kicked off; she was flying, really flying! Madam Hooch blew her whistle again to signal to come back down; Isabella landed easily after she watched Al do it, but when Rosie landed there was a bit of a loud thud.

But as everyone landed, Elliot's broom started to lose control. He rose up higher and higher in the air. Madam Hooch yelled, "Get down Hubble!" but Elliot's broom did not respond.

Elliot was about thirty feet in the air before his broom through him off and he fell to the ground. Madam Hooch and the class ran over to where Elliot fell.

Isabella swore she heard Madam Hooch whispering under her breathe: "Why does this always happen when there's a Potter in my class?"

"My leg, ah, I think it's broken." said Elliot as he grabbed his it.

"Alright, I'll bring him to the Hospital wing." said Madam Hooch. She took out her wand, said a spell Isabella had never heard before that made Elliot levitate in the air. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes, if I catch anyone off the ground, they'll be gone sooner than you can say Quaffle." She slowly moved Elliot towards the castle. Once she was out of sight, Scorpius said:

"What an idiot, I've never seen someone so daft in my life."

The Slytherins laughed.

"I think it met be fun if we play with his stuff." said Scorpius to two of his Slytherin cronies. One of the cronies ran over to where everyone had their bags and picked up Elliot's.

"Give it here, Malfoy." said Isabella.

"Hmm… as tempting as that sounds Evans, I think I'll go for a little ride." Scorpius grabbed his broom and began to hover over the ground. His two Slytherin cronies, Isabella believed their last names were Zabini and Flint, also took flight.

"Malfoy!" yelled Al, he took off after them.

"What is he doing?" Rosie asked frantically. "He is going to get expelled!"

Isabella looked at her broom, then to Rosie, then Al, and back to her broom. She kicked off the ground and flew after Malfoy. She stopped right in the middle of a game of monkey-in-the-middle between Malfoy, Zabini, Flint, and Al.

"What can I do to help?" asked Isabella.

"Get the bag!" said Al.

"Oh Right!" Isabella flew after Zabini who had the bag at the time.

He chucked it to Malfoy who then passed it to Flint. Isabella was chasing them all over the place but she couldn't seem to catch them. Then:

"This is boring, go fetch Evans." Malfoy hurled the bag across the field.

Isabella flew as fast as she could after it, she put her hand out to grab it, and then she could feel the kaki bag in her hands. She flew down to the ground, were all the Gryffindors ran over and surrounded her.

"Well done!" said Al, he patted her on the back.

"That was completely stupid and reckless and dangerous and did I mention stupid?" snapped Rosie.

"Yeah you did." Isabella mumbled.

"Well," Rosie smiled. "That was brilliant flying anyway." She gave Isabella a half hug.

"Evans!"

The class turned around and saw Professor McGonagall rushing down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Nice knowing ya, mate." said Al.

"Evans, follow me." said Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall walked 3 paces ahead of her the whole way back to the castle.

"Professor-"

"Quiet, Evans." said Professor McGonagall.

"But Professor-"

Once they got back to the castle Professor McGonagall did not head to her office but they headed towards the forest. Professor McGonagall told her to wait by a little hut.

"Professor Hagrid, can I see Mr Allen please." Isabella heard Professor McGonagall from the forest. She also heard something from Hagrid that sounded like a "yes." McGonagall walked out of the forest with another Gryffindor.

"Evans, this is Harrison Allen. Allen here is the Gryffindor Quidditch captain." said Professor McGonagall. "He's also a fifth year."

Harrison was a tall boy, who was also quite muscular. "Nice to meet you."

"Allen, this is Isabella Evans a first year and your new Chaser." said McGonagall.

"Professor? Are you sure?" asked Harrison. "Wait, aren't you not supposed to interfere in the making of the Quidditch teams?"

"Oh be quiet Allen, I just saved you from more painful try-outs." said McGonagall.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Evans." said Harrison; he put out his hand and Isabella shook it.

"You're the new Chaser?"

Rosie, Al, and Isabella were all sitting in front of the Gryffindor common room's fireplace. Isabella nodded to Rosie's question.

"And you're not expelled?" asked Rosie.

Isabella nodded again.

Rosie fell back into her chair and muttered something like: "Unbelievable…"  
>"So McGonagall just took you to the Quidditch captain like that?" asked Al. "Bloody hell, I'm getting a de ja vu feeling right now…"<p>

Isabella ignored this comment and went back to working on her Potions homework.

By the time the weekend came around, Isabella, Al, and Rosie had been swamped with homework. Isabella and the others mostly did their homework outside to keep out of the stuffy Gryffindor common room as well as peeping eyes. Isabella understood that Rosie and Al came from a famous family but she did understand why people couldn't get over it. The only good thing or more like exciting thing that happened to them that week was when Elliot was finally released from the hospital wing and the first year Gryffindors had small celebration that night at dinner; but besides that their life was completely and utterly dull.

"Aw man…" Al said as his stomach growled. "I'm starving, when's lunch?" It was Sunday morning and the young Gryffindors had decided on working on their homework down by the Black Lake.

"Breakfast was only as hour ago." said Isabella; she slammed down her hand on her Transfiguration homework so it didn't blow away. "Are you really hunger already?"

He nodded slowly.

"I reckon it's just that he wants us to finish his Transfiguration homework for him." said Rosie; her eyes never left her paper. "He won't really get hungry this easily until about our fourth year."

Al grunted and went back to his homework. They all sat in silence apart from the occasional moan or grunt when one of their pieces of parchment went flying off in the breeze. After about an hour of silence James and another third year boy came running down the hill towards them; the boys kept looking over their shoulders.

James jumped right over the girls and hid behind his brother, while the other boys ran behind some second year Hufflepuff girls.

"Hide me!" said James in a low but rushed whisper.

"Why?" Isabella asked bluntly.

"Filch! He's after me!" said James. "Quick, Rosie, transfigure me!"

"I don't know any human transfiguration spells yet." said Rosie. "I didn't think I'd need to know them the first week."

James looked to Al, but he shook his head. It was no surprise to Isabella that Al didn't know one because he barely knew what they were learning in class at the moment.

"I do." said Isabella. "It will only change the color of your hair, but at least it will stop Filch from coming over here."

Isabella pointed her wand at James' hair and muttered the color-change spell. His hair was changed to a lighter brown but still there was obviously some difference.

"Now, Al, give him your glasses." said Isabella. She shoved them onto James' face just in time.

Filch ran over to them. "Have you seen that Potter boy?" he asked.

"No." they all said in unison.

Filch grunted and ran over towards the giggling Hufflepuff girls.

"What did you do this time?" asked Rosie.

"Set of one of Uncle George's dungbombs off by Filch's office." said James. "Now how can I repay you?" he asked Isabella.

"Flying lessons." she said without a second thought.

"Flying lessons?" asked James. "Why the hell do you need flying lessons?"

"She's Gryffindor's newest Chaser." said Al. "McGonagall-"

"Professor McGonagall." coughed Rosie.

Al ignored this and continued with his thought. "Handpicked her herself."

"Really?" asked James. Isabella was a bit shocked he hadn't heard yet. "Well, why not? We can also train with Al for a bit."

Isabella and Rosie turned to Al with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that I was thinking about trying out for Seeker." said Al.

Isabella smacked the back of his head with her rolled up parchment. "You ninny! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Ouch!" Al cursed under his breathe, which he earned another smack in the head for. "That's why!"

"What do you mean?" asked Isabella. "I wouldn't have hit you if you told me!"

"No, that's not it!" said Al, he gathered up his books and stormed off towards the castle.

"For a boy he can be very moody…" said James. "Now, can you change my hair back? I don't like it this color."

"Oh, right." Isabella casted the counter curse, and James then ran off to find his friend.

"Why do you think that Al got so upset?" Isabella asked when James was finally out of sight.

"Al and James have a very interesting relationship." began Rosie. "They are very close, but then again they are very competitive with each other. James has always been better at Quidditch and things of that nature, while Al has always done better in school."

"Al, doing better than someone in school? That's mental." said Isabella.

"Well, Al does take some time to grasp the spell but once he's got it down, it's brilliant. Don't get me wrong James is a brilliant wizard as well but he just doesn't put in as much effort as Al does…"

"Al, effort?" asked Isabella. "This sounds completely mental you know."

"Yes, you've said that already." snapped Rosie.

"Just letting it sink in." muttered Isabella as she went back to her work.

I hope you liked it! Review please! :D


	10. The Beautiful Art of Quidditch

Wow, ten chapters already... thanks for reading! :D

Chapter 10: The Beautiful Art of Quidditch

The next few weeks flew by but still Isabella hadn't had a chance to practice with the team because technically it wasn't Quidditch season yet; and she still hadn't had a flying lesson from James because he had so many detentions that his whole schedule was booked until mid-October.

So, instead, Isabella checked out _Quidditch through the Ages_ and studied every single bit of it. Al said that Isabella probably had already memorized it after a week. Every free night they had, Isabella, Al, and sometimes Rosie would head down to the Quidditch pitch and do some basic drills. Isabella was a fast learner, by the time the Quidditch season officially began in early October she had mastered all the basic skills of a Chaser: catching with one hand, throwing with one hand, knocking people of their brooms, the norm.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team only had a few practices before their first match against Ravenclaw. Al had made Seeker and he wasn't that bad, James had told Isabella that if he had a faster broom he'd leave all the others in the dust. Even though James, Al, Rosie, and the rest of the Gryffindor team assured her that she'd do brilliant; Isabella's nerves were starting to eat her away…

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year." said Annie Jordan, over the loud speaker one cool October morning. "I'm Annie Jordan and I'm here to give you a play-by-play of this most honored Hogwarts tradition. First let's name or Ravenclaw team…"

Isabella heard the Ravenclaws run out onto the field and the stands went crazy. As Annie read off the names of the Ravenclaw team, Isabella zoned off into her own little world. _Breathe, just breathe._ Those words repeated themselves over and over again in her head.

As they waited to be called out, Isabella stood in the front next to Harrison, Al and James were right behind them, and the three other players were in the back.

"Harrison, do you remember you're first Quidditch match?" asked Isabella.

"Like it was yesterday…" he said.

"How did it go?"

"Well, it was against Slytherin and we were winning but then it was called off when a rouge Bludger totally destroyed part of the stands." said Harrison. "But don't worry; the chances of that happening are slim to none."

This still didn't make things any easier for Isabella.

"And now for the Gryffindor team!" said Annie over the loud speaker.

The team filled out one by one onto the pitch. The Ravenclaws were already in the air warming up and doing some tricks for the crowd.

"First up: Keeper, Captain, and Fifth year Harrison Allen!" said Annie through the loud speaker. Harrison took off in the air towards the goal posts. "Next, Victorie Weasley, 7th year and Chaser-" Victoire took off. "Michael Taylor, fifth year Beater-," a boy with curly brown hair took off. "Shannon Webb, fourth year Chaser-" A girl who looked exactly like Summer, because she was her sister, took off. "James Potter, third year Beater-" James took off a high speeds and almost "accidently" crashed into a Ravenclaw Quidditch player. "Albus Potter, first year and Seeker-" Al winked at Isabella and mouthed Good Luck before he took off to the sky as well. Isabella mounted her broom preparing herself for takeoff. "And finally: Isabella Evans, first year and our last Chaser!"

The crowd went wild as Isabella took off; as she flew around, she looked for Rosie in the stands. She wasn't hard to find, she was right by the teacher's box and was sitting next to Elliot who couldn't stand for more than five seconds, so they were sitting in what James had referred to as the handicap box.

Madam Hooch walked out to the center of the pitch and stood with the Quaffle under her arm. "Alright, I want a clean match everyone. No dirty tricks, alright?" She looked towards the Beaters, but everyone nodded.

Madam Hooch first let go of the golden snitch. Isabella watched closely to it then it disappeared. How Al was supposed to catch it, she had no idea. Isabella felt her hands start to sweat, her nerves were eating her alive. She looked to Al, who was about two feet above her to the left, he smiled and it helped Isabella clam down and focus long enough to pay attention to Madam Hooch.

Madam Hooch's whistle blew, practically blowing Isabella's eardrums out, and the Quaffle was thrown up into the air. Victoire grabbed it and flew off towards the Ravenclaw goal post, and Isabella followed her.

As Isabella flew, she didn't notice the Bludgers coming at her at stop speed; luckily, James flew in and hit the Bludgers right at the Ravenclaw Keeper, knocking him off his broom and allowing Victorie to score.

"Thanks James, I owe you." said Isabella.

"Don't mention it, just watch out next time. Those things hurt like bloody hell when they hit you." said James.

She nodded and flew off after the Ravenclaw chaser who had the Quaffle. For the rest of the game, Isabella was just flying back and forth between the goal posts trying to get her teammates to pass her the Quaffle; but she had no luck. Isabella moaned, every time she was open and they wouldn't pass it to her, whatever happened to teamwork?

"Webb passes it to Weasley, then its back to Webb, and- oh, it's snatched up by sixth year chaser Krasinski, and now she is headed for the Gryffindor goal post. If they only included Evans who has been open all game and has not yet received a pass." said Annie. "And Krasinski scores making the score 150-80, Ravenclaw after an hour and a half of playing." Annie paused and changed her tone. "Oh come of Gryffindor this is pathetic, stop trying to save your asses and pass the Quaffle to Evans!"

"Miss. Jordan!" snapped McGonagall. "Watch what you say!"

"Sorry Professor." mumbled Annie.

Isabella laughed, but she had to focus because Shannon was flying towards her, fast and ready to throw.

"Evans!" yelled Shannon.

Isabella caught it and she zoomed towards the Ravenclaw goal post. She dodged Bludgers, Chasers, and a Beater. She easily maneuvered around them all; she was coming closer and closer to the goal post, but she didn't know if she could throw it into the goal post or not but she had to try. She mustered all her strength and hurled the Quaffle right at the middle post and it made it in! The keeper completely missed it and fell off his broom, again.

"Yes!" Isabella heard Al yell.

For once Isabella felt like nothing could keep her down, she knew that her time as chaser was just beginning. Isabella didn't stop there either; she was making goals left and right, decreasing the difference between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

"It's almost tied up here; Ravenclaw has 190 and Gryffindor has 170, thanks to new rising Quidditch star: Isabella Evans, a first year no less." said Annie. "Now the only chance for a victory lies in the hands of the seekers; oh and look, there goes Potter. Does he see the snitch?"

"Come on Al." Isabella mumbled to herself as she watched Al reaching out into the air. She couldn't see the snitch since she was on the other side of the pitch. Isabella couldn't watch anymore, she had to help Victoire out of a sticky situation with two Ravenclaw chasers; so she listen to Annie very carefully to make sure she didn't mess anything.

"There goes Evans to help out Weasley, and- oh my- Evans barely misses a Bludger aimed right at her head. The Quaffle is passed to Webb and now back to Evans, and Evans scores! What's Potter doing? He is diving right into the stands!" cried Annie. "What is Potter up to?"  
>Isabella couldn't look away; Al was flying, and fast, right towards where all the Hufflepuffs were. His arm was out stretched as far as it could go; he was practically standing on his broom. And then crash, right into the stands.<p>

"Al!" yelled Isabella and James; they flew over as fast as they could.

"Potter has just crashed into the stands!" said Annie. "This is one Quidditch game he won't be forgetting soon! Wait a moment his standing up, and what is that in his hands?"

Isabella stopped as Al stood up. He mounted his broom and flew up to the middle of the pitch, it was dead silent.

Al laughed as held up his hand to reveal the Golden Snitch. The crowd cheered and went wild as Al took a quick victory lap, then he landed about 10 feet from where Isabella had land and the two ran to each other.

"That was brilliant!" Isabella yelled over the cheers of the crowd.

"No, you we're bloody brilliant!" said Al, he looked at her and then hugged her and Isabella hugged him back.

The broke apart as James then landed next to them all. "You both were wicked!" said James. "Too bad you don't have a fast broom Isabella, and then you really would have scored some major points!"

"Yeah, that was great for your first match." added Al.

The three of them walked into the locker rooms and changed quickly so they could celebrate but Harrison had a different idea of celebrating then the others. He called an emergency team meeting after they all changed back into their normal clothes.

"Everyone was brilliant today!" he began. "But we have to train hard if we want to beat Slytherin in our next match because their seeker can fly circles around you Potter. And what the bloody hell was that Evans?"

Isabella gulped. "I-I…"

"Why were you hiding that all during practice? You were amazing! By the time you're a fourth year you'll have Teddy Lupin running for his money!" said Harrison.

"Whose Teddy Lupin?" asked Isabella. She noticed that Victorie shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"Our old star Chaser from two years ago." explained Shannon.

"Yeah, he was the best." said Harrison.

"He is the best!" snapped Victoire. She stood up and stormed out.

"Did I say something?" asked Harrison.

"Oh boy." mumbled Shannon.

"Dude." laughed James.

After the meeting, Isabella, Al, and James all walked to the Great Hall for dinner. They met up with Rosie and Elliot, who were sitting down towards the teachers table.

"Why was Victoire so touchy earlier?" asked Isabella as they sat down. "Please tell it wasn't my fault!"

"Don't worry it wasn't. Teddy and Victoire are kind of an item I guess you could say." said Al.

"Yeah, at King Cross, I caught them snogging." laughed James.

"Your so much like my father it's unbearable." said Rosie.

Isabella was so confused they still had not mentioned who exactly Teddy Lupin was. "How to you know him exactly?" she asked.

"He is our god brother, practically part of the family." said Al. "His parents were killed during the Battle of Hogwarts nineteen years ago, so he and our dad are really close."

Isabella loved to listen to Rosie's and Al's stories from when they were younger. She loved how everyone they knew was connected somehow to their huge family. Isabella wished that soon she could meet her wizarding family, if she had any left of course.

"Hey guys." said Elliot. "Look at the babe that's walking over here."

A tall and lean, red-headed woman and a man, who was only an inch taller than her, with messy black hair like Al's walked over to them. When they got closer, Isabella noticed a strange scar on his head.

"What are you doing here?" asked Al.

"I thought you were in Scotland for the Quidditch semi-finals." added James.

"Albus Severus and James Sirius Potter that is no way to take to your parents." snapped the man.

Sorry that it is kinda short, review as always, I'll post Chapter 11 later tonight!


	11. Mr and Mrs Potter

Chapter 11: Mr. and Mrs. Potter

"Sorry mum." Al looked down at his feet.

"We came to see your match." said his mother.

"That was a brilliant catch, Al!" said his father. "And this must be Isabella Evans, the new star chaser, am I right?"

"I don't know about star but yes I'm Isabella, it's a pressure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter." said Isabella.

"Oh dear, just call us Ginny and Harry." said Al's mother.

"So are you staying here the night or are you about to leave?" asked Rosie.

"We'll be staying for much longer than that." said Harry. "Professor McGonagall has asked me to fill in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher because Professor Argador has some 'issues' that he need to take care of before he can return to work."

"Are you staying too Aunt Ginny?" asked Rosie.

"Just until tomorrow, I'm doing a piece on school yard Quidditch so I just came for the match." said Ginny. "You were quite something, Isabella. You parents would be proud."

Isabella gulped, she hadn't talked about her parents that much with Al and Rosie so how did Ginny know about them? Was it because Ginny and Harry knew Alice and Jacob Evans like Madame Hannah and Professor Longbottom? She wanted answers but she couldn't ask now, she had to wait until that night to ask Rosie.

"Thank you." mumbled Isabella.

"Well, we best be getting to McGonagall's office. We'll see you later." said Ginny.

As they walked away Isabella heard Harry mumbled to Ginny: "It's going to be weird going in not because I'm in trouble."

After dinner, Al, Rosie, and Isabella all rushed up to Gryffindor Tower so the chances of running into Harry and Ginny again were dramatically decreased. Isabella and Rosie said good-night to Al once they were safely in the common room and then went upstairs. Isabella stopped Rosie as they were a foot away from their room.

"What the?" asked Rosie.

"Shhhh!" snapped Isabella. "Listen!"

"Who knew, Muggle-borns were fame seekers." snickered Mia.

"Remember she's not a Muggle-born, she has Wizarding parents but raised by Muggles!" laughed Summer.

"Whatever, it sounds a little too much like a certain wizard right?" asked Valerie. "Did you see that hug? Oh man, that was not just a friend for a few months hug, no way! If you ask me, she is just trying to make a name for herself! I mean, what kind of witch has her parents go missing and doesn't even know that they're magical. I bet they're locked up in Azkaban!"

The girls were laughing hysterically and Isabella couldn't control herself. She burst into her room and drew her wand on Valerie. "Don't you dare talk about my parents like that, you witch! You jave no idea what I've been through!"

"What are you going to do?" asked Valerie. "You're only a first year, the most damage you could do to me is to unlock my diary!" laughed Valerie.

"Try me! _Wingardium Leviosa!_" Isabella casted the charm on the nearby vase, that was filled with flowers from Mia's parents; and with a slight flick of her wand, the water and flowers fell out of the vase and was dumped all over Valerie. "I may be a first year but at least I don't have a big head!"

"She told you." laughed Mia.

"You're lucky that she didn't do it to you too! Some goes for you Webb!" snapped Rosie. "You'd think that we would be able to be civilized with each other and not go behind others backs because we are stuck with each other for the next- uh- 6 and a half years!"

"Come on, Rosie, they're not worth It." said Isabella; then she and Rosie quickly changed into their pajamas and went to bed. As Isabella drew the curtains around her four poster bed, she realized that what happened to her parents was a bit odd, even for the Wizarding World.

For the next few weeks, Defense Against the Dark Arts was a very awkward class; especially for Al and Rosie. Rosie stopped rising her hand in class and Al tried extra hard not to get into trouble or to get extra homework.

Finally it was time for Halloween and for Defense Against the Dark Arts, the lesson was all about Trolls.

"Trolls are extremely stupid." Harry said bluntly. "And the key to defeating the troll is to confuse it. Since you are not advanced enough to use a confounding spell, we'll be practicing sending sparks from our wands as well as small expulsions and bright flashes of light." With a small flick of his wand, Harry sent all the desks against the walls. "Now, partner up with someone at your level."

Isabella partner up with Rosie, Al was with Elliot, and the rest of the class was with their closest friend.

"No, no, no, this won't do." Harry re-arranged basically the whole class. "Albus go work with Rose; Elliot, please work with Miss. Webb; that means you go with Miss. Thomas, Miss Harvey; Mr. Zabini, you work with Mr. Goyle; Malfoy that leaves you with Miss. Evans."

"Evans." said Malfoy.

"Malfoy." snapped Isabella.

"Now on my go, you will send sparks at your partner. Ready, go." said Harry.

Isabella's sparks were so strong they knock Malfoy over and singed the tips of his hair.

"That's it! _Expelliarmus!_" shouted Malfoy.

Isabella dodged the poorly aimed attack. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Isabella shot the attack straight at Malfoy. He clasped to the ground, unable to move.

"Nice shot!" said Al. He looked over to his father; he wasn't paying attention because he had to put out a fire that started in Summer's hair.

Goyle and Zabini ran over to help Malfoy up. Zabini muttered the counter cruse; and with a flash of red light, Malfoy was back on his feet.

"You'll pay for that, you filthy little Mudblood!" snapped Malfoy.

This enraged Al, he knew that Isabella had Wizarding parents; but people didn't want to believe it. He raised his wand to Malfoy but Rosie stepped in front of him.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Rosie pointed her want straight at bottles of ink in the corner. They slowly made their way over to Malfoy, and with a slight flick of her wrist. They all spilled their contents all over Malfoy.

"Weasley!" yelled Harry who had just realized what was going on. "Malfoy! 15 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin! And on top of that you both have Saturday detention with me, cleaning up this mess!"

"But Professor, don't punish Rosie! She was just standing up for me. I've anyone should be punished it should be me and Malfoy." said Isabella.

"Yeah, Malfoy attacked Isabella first, da- I mean Professor." said Al. "Rosie stepped in as a self-defense thing."

"I have a high respect for those who stand up for their friends, but I'm sorry my word is final." said Harry. "Class, for your homework I want you all to practice you're sparks. I know it may sound like a dull and useless spell; but to put it simply, it's saved my tail more times then I'd admit to. Now, class dismissed."

Rosie, Al, Elliot, and Isabella all collected their things and headed to the Gryffindor common room so they could put their things away before they went down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.

"Why did you do that?" asked Isabella as they approached the Fat Lady. "_Bowtruckle_." the portrait sung open. "You're such a goody-goody, why would you want to get in trouble? Why did you take the fall for me?"

"I have the right to do whatever I please." snapped Rosie. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go through the rest of the evening _not_ talking about it."

It was the first time Isabella ever saw Rosie get mad at her or anyone for that matter. Well, expect the times she would snap at Malfoy but that was all in good fun.

After they all put their things away, the four of them silently walked back to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. The hall was filled with candies, sweets, jack-o-lanterns, and even some live bats; or that's what Isabella believed them to be.

The four first years sat with Mia, Summer, Valerie (even though she wouldn't speak to Rosie or Isabella), Jake Campton and Isaac Jennings. Jake and Isaac were also Gryffindors in their year, but Isabella didn't know them so well because they mostly kept to themselves.

They stuffed their faces with Chocolate Caldrons, Acid Pops, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Ever Flavored Beans (To much of Isabella's surprise, when they mean ever flavor they aren't lying), and many other delicious candies from Honeydukes down in Hogsmeade. At the end of the feast, Professor McGonagall made a simple speech at the end about how they all should be thankful for being able to be here right now. James said that each year, McGonagall gets sappier and sappier with her speeches. He also mentioned that her after-feast speeches were nothing compared to Albus Dumbledore's.

The Next day pasted slowly because Rosie wouldn't speak to Isabella; so most of her time was spent with Al and Elliot, who she both truly liked but it wasn't the same.

By Saturday it was still as bad as the previous week. Rosie was at detention cleaning out old cauldrons with Malfoy; while Isabella was stuck in a very crowded Gryffindor tower, helping Al and Elliot with their Herbology homework.

"I don't get it." said Elliot. "If your family is so close with Professor Longbottom, why don't you just go ask him for help?"

"Morals I suppose?" said Isabella. "Isn't it like going to your father for help? Like, people think that you are getting special treatment, right Al?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Al's voice trailed off as he searched through his _1000 Herbs and Where to Find Them_ textbook. "Damn, where is the bloody plant!"

"Something wrong?" asked Isabella.

"I just that-" he slammed his book shut. "Rosie's stuck with Malfoy in detention, where he is probably insulting her! And the worst part is I can't help her, because I'm stuck here!"

"As you already have seen, she can take care of herself perfectly well." said Isabella. "But what exactly is a Mudblood?"

"Mudblood," Al spit out the word. "Is a really dirty word for a wizard born to two Muggle parents, or a Muggleborn."

"It basically means dirty blood." added Elliot.

"Yeah, see some wizards still believe that wizards and witches not born from two wizarding parents then they aren't as able to practice or learn magic. But, their barely is a witch or wizard lef that isn't a halfblood or less, like you, me, and Rosie." said Al.

"But how can we be a half blood, we all have wizarding parents." asked Isabella.

"Its complicated and I really don't feel like explaining it." Al said, yawning.

"It's alright, you can explain it to me another time." said Isabella. "Well, I should go get Rosie now." She looked at the grandfather clock in the far corner of the common room. "Her detention is almost over."

"I'll go with you." said Elliot, standing up from his chair.

"No thanks, you guys still have to work on your D.A.D.A essay for Professor Potter on Trolls." said Isabella, she waved good-bye and climbed out the portrait hole.

As Isabella walked across Hogwarts, humming a little tune from a Muggle fairytale; she realized that she and Rosie had a row and that Rosie probably didn't want to see her at that moment. But it was too late to turn around; she heard voices and Rosie's very noticeable laugh.

Isabella looked around the corner, and there was Rosie laughing and giggling by Scorpius Malfoy's side.

I hope you liked this, sorry I didn't post all week, had too much homework :P please review as always! :)


	12. Christmas

Chapter 12: Christmas

Isabella let out a tiny little gasp as she saw Rosie and Malfoy fawning over each other.

"I am truly sorry about calling you're friend a Mudblood. You're right, I should stop using it. Would you tell Evans I'm sorry?" asked Malfoy.

Isabella looked around the corner again; they had stopped right at the fork in the path between the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms.

"We're not exactly on speaking term right now." said Rosie. "We had a bit of a row on Halloween; and just so you know, she a half-blood."

"Oh well, was it because she- you know- found out about us?" asked Malfoy.

"No she doesn't know; she kept bugging me about taking the fall for her in Defense Against the Dark Arts, so I haven't gotten the chance to tell her." said Rosie.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"I want to but…"

"But what?"

"But, I have to think family first. What would Al and James say if I told them that I was good friends with a Slytherin! They would have a heart attack! Just think what they would say if I told them it was you?" asked Rosie. "I don't even want to think about what they would do to you. James would probably hex you in the hall, I imagine by now he knows you call Isabella a Mudblood. I mean, everyone does."

"So? I think that they should be able to come to terms with our friendship, I mean it can't be that bad?" said Malfoy. "Can it?"

"I don't know…" said Rosie. "Maybe it's just better that we-,"

Isabella heard enough, she coughed loudly and started to call out Rosie's name. "Rosie! Rosie?"

"Over her Izzy." said Rosie.

Isabella walked around the corner and smiled at Rosie then looked to Malfoy in disgust. "By the way, I'm a half-blood. Get your story right."

"Isabella!" snapped Rosie.

"Sorry, I take great offense to the word, you know, because my mother is Muggle-born just like yours!" Isabella snapped back.

"Isabella, I do too but right here is not the place to have an argument." said Rosie.

"Look, Isabella-,"

"Don't call me by my first name, Malfoy, you don't have the right." said Isabella.

"Sorry, look, Evans, I'm really sorry about all that. I can be a bit of a prat sometimes." said Malfoy.

"No, you're always a prat, Malfoy." said Isabella. She grabbed Rosie's hand and tugged her along.

November and most of December went by quickly and Isabella hadn't spoken a word of what she heard between Malfoy and Rosie to anyone. Not even Rosie. Isabella still felt awkward every time she saw Malfoy when she was with Rosie. She always felt like Malfoy was staring at Rosie, maybe they were just friends or maybe Malfoy fancied her but either way it made Isabella feel… uncomfortable.

As snow covered the grounds and the days until Christmas break lowered, everyone at Hogwarts seemed to be in high spirits. The night before the last day of the term, the Gryffindor common room was buzzing with excitement; but after a while, the common room died down and only Isabella, Elliot, Rosie, and Al were left. They all were lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, trying to combine the little energy they all had left into their Transfiguration essays.

"Ugh, this is mind numbing." said Isabella as she rubbed her temples. "Why couldn't we ask Annie to help us with this? I mean, she is the best at Transfiguration."

"Because, technically that would be cheating." said Rosie. "She already took it."

"I think I'm going to be sick." said Al. "I'm breathing in too much moral fiber."

Isabella and Elliot laughed.

"Al, you're funny when you lack sleep." giggled Isabella.

"Har, har." mocked Al.

"Only stating the truth."

Rosie glared at her cousin and hit him over the head with her Transfiguration textbook.

"Bloody hell!" snapped Al. "I think you gave me a concussion!"

"I'm sorry, what did you say? My ears are clogged with all this moral fiber." snapped Rosie.

"Is this how Christmas is going to be?" asked Isabella. "You two bickering like an old married couple or like cats and dogs?"

"Insulting." said Rosie. "Like I'd ever marry someone like Al, he's a total prat."

"So are you sweet cheeks." mumbled Al.

"So you're staying with the Potters this break, Isabella?" asked Elliot.

"No not exactly. I'm going to be staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the most part, but I'm going over there for Christmas." said Isabella.

"Sounds fun." said Elliot. "I'll be at Mum's for Christmas and Dad's for the New Years."

Isabella could feel the sadness in Elliot's voice; his parents had separated right before he came to Hogwarts. He didn't like to talk about it, he was close to both of his parents and it was hard for him to see his parents' love just disappear. It would be hard for any child no matter what age.

"Oh." said Rosie; she was thinking the same thing as Isabella.

"Well, I think I'm going to go hit the hay." said Al. "We have an early day tomorrow."

Isabella found herself giggling slightly.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's nothing." said Isabella. "Well… actually, its… well… you just said 'hit the hay!' no one says that anymore!"

"Goodnight, Isabella." said Al as he and Elliot walked up the boy dormitory stairs.

"Night." Isabella called after them.

"Let's go." said Rosie, motioning over to their own stairs.

The next morning was utter chaos as the students of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home. Isabella, Rosie, and Al shared a compartment with Annie, James, and Elliot so the trip home was far from boring. The boys thought Isabella how to play Exploding Snap and they all talked about Quidditch for at least two hours straight. Isabella was slightly surprised when she found out how much Rosie and Elliot actually knew about Quidditch, because to Isabella, they seemed the least likely to be Quidditch fanatics.

The train arrived at King's Cross sometime in the late afternoon. Isabella quickly spotted Hannah in the crowd.

"Hannah!" she cried as she ran over to the tall, blonde woman.

"Izzy, dear." said Hannah as she let go of her. "Long time no see."

"I know! Here, meet my new friends." Isabella grabbed Al and Rosie who were searching for their parents and pulled them over to Hannah. "Hannah, this is Albus Potter and Rose Weasley. Guys, this is Hannah, she was the reason I survived the summer."

"Hello there." said Hannah. "Again."

"You lot know each other?" asked Isabella.

"Yeah, out parents are close to Hannah and Professor Longbottom." explained Al.

"So you made me do that whole little introduction for nothing?" asked Isabella.

"Yeah, pretty much." smiled Rosie.

"Ugh, you lot give me headaches!" said Isabella rubbing her temples. "I can't believe you did that! But whatever, I'll see you guys on the 25th!"

"Yes you will!" said Al.

"Come on, Al, I see our parents." said Rosie, pulling her cousin away. "Bye Isabella, bye Hannah! See you in a few days."

"Bye!" called Isabella as she waved goodbye. Then, she and Hannah collected Isabella's belongings and brought them to Hannah's Muggle car in the parking lot.

For the first few days, Isabella could only talk about her experiences at Hogwarts so far, she had to let it all out to someone and Hannah was a great listener. She told Hannah everything; from her first Quidditch match, to that slimly prick Scorpius Malfoy, to the magic that she was learning, and how she was feeling like she was on cloud nine.

But when Christmas finally came, it topped it all. She wasn't expecting presents from anyone, but to her utter shock, there weren't presents from anyone, there were presents from everyone!

"Hannah! Are this all for me?" she asked as she ran into the upstairs loft that was shared by Professor Longbottom and Hannah.

"For the most part, yes." said Hannah. "You have quite a lot of friends don't you." handing her the first of her presents. "Miss Congeniality."

"I guess so." Isabella grabbed the first box that was on her piled of presents. It was small, but she didn't care, it was her first real gift since Isabella could remember.

She carefully untied the red ribbon wrapped around the white box and opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful charm bracelet Isabella had ever since. It was even better than the charm bracelet Olivia had gotten for her tenth birthday.

It was sterling silver with seven charms. A silver broomstick, a silver heart, a small ruby stone, a silver dolphin, a silver lion's head, what seemed to be a sliver Hogwarts crest, and finally a silver cursive I.

"Look, Hannah, isn't it beautiful?" asked Isabella holding up the bracelet.

Hannah's face went stone cold as she looked at the bracelet more carefully. "That- that- who is it from?" she finally managed to get out.

Isabella picked up the same card that was in the box and read it.

_Your mother left this this in my care before she disappeared; I felt it was time I returned it to you._

"It doesn't say." said Isabella, she handed the card to Hannah.

At first Hannah looked as if she could through up, but then a small smile crossed her face.

"It says it was my mum's." said Isabella. "Is that true?"

"Quite." said Hannah. "She had the charm bracelet since before I even met her. See that broomstick was for her love of Quidditch, she was quite talented at it. Oh, and the small ruby, she was born in July, just like you. The lion's head, her Gryffindor pride as she liked to call it. The Hogwarts crest speaks for itself and the heart I imagine as well."

"Did my dad give it to her?" asked Isabella.

Hannah smiled. "Yes, yes he did, their seventh year I believe if my memory serves me right."

"What about the dolphin?" asked Isabella.

"It was Alice's favorite animal." explained Hannah. "And the 'I,' your uncle I believe is the one who gave that to her."

"My Uncle?"

"Yes, er- Reginald is it?" asked Hannah. "He loved his baby sister greatly; it really hit him hard when she disappeared. I believe he sent it to her when he got the new of your birth. See, your parents were constantly fighting over your name even while your mother was in labor." Hannah laughed at the memory.

"If my Uncle Reginald loved my mum so much then, then way did he and my Aunt Doris treat me so, so- er- badly?" asked Isabella. "I mean, if he loved her, why doesn't he love me?"

"I'm sure that was mostly your aunt's doing, she never like your mother. Alice was always going on about how she wanted to befriend Doris for the sake of the family. But Doris wanted to keep her pearls out of the mud, if you know what I mean." explained Hannah.

"What did my mother ever do to her?" asked Isabella. "What would make her hate my mum so much?"

"Well, first of all, Doris has a stick way to far up her boney butt of hers. Secondly, she and your mum had a falling out of some sorts." said Hannah. "I believe it had to do with magic…"

So that's why Olivia and Isabella were never allowed to play witches when they were younger or fairy princesses with magically shoes. Aunt Doris hated magic, but why? It's so wonderful, how could you hate it so much?

Isabella left the conversation there as she decided to open the rest of her presents. There was a new pair of Quidditch gloves from Al; a basket of different types of Wizarding candies from Rosie; a supply of 5 dungbombs from James and a coupon for more; a new set of spell check pens from the Potters; and then a broomstick care set from Hannah and Professor Longbottom.

"But Hannah, I don't have a broomstick to care for." said Isabella. "Why would I need a care kit?"

"Simple." said Hannah pulling out a large oddly shaped box from behind the chair she was seating on. "Neville and Harry pulled a few strings with Professor McGonagall and well I think Albus is about to receive the same gift." she handed the box to Isabella.

She ripped the box open, inside was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life. It was a shiny new Lightingshock, the fastest broom in the world. The mahogany handle fitted perfectly in Isabella's hands; and in small gold letters on the side of the handle it said "Lightingshock" with a small gold lighting symbol right next to it.

"This- that- broomstick!" blurted out Isabella. "I have a broomstick!"

"Nice isn't it?" asked Hannah. "It's top of the line I believe, should get Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup, though I'd really rather have Hufflepuff win but I can't argue with the best."

Isabella laughed. "What time are we going over to the Potters'?"

"Uh, I believe around one-ish." said Hannah.

"Oh, well I'm going to bring this stuff back to my room and then I'm going to start getting ready." said Isabella.

"Iz, it's only 9:30?" said Hannah.

"Well, I want to see Diagon Alley on Christmas so I'm not too early." said Isabella as she left the room. She quickly packed her gifts back into her trunk and pulled out a pair of dark jeans, a long sleeve purple shirt, an old sweater, and her Hogwarts cloak. She put on her socks and tied up her grey boat shoes, then headed out to explore Diagon Alley again.

Diagon Alley definitely did not live up to her expectations but she at least had a nice time wondering around. She returned back to the Leaky Cauldron with enough time to freshen up a bit before she had to go to the Potters'. She and Hannah used floo powder to get to their house and once there, they were attacked.

"Isabella!" cried Rosie as she jumped on her friend once she stepped out of the fireplace. Isabella was still a little tipsy. She definitely did not like that jerk behind her naval that traveling by floo powder caused her. From then one she was traveling only be broomstick.

"Hi- Rose." she could barely get the words out because Rosie had hugged her so tightly. "Can-you-let-go-now?"

"Oh! Sorry." said Rosie.

"No problem." Isabella straightened herself up.

In the living room it was only the two first year girls.

"Where is everybody?" asked Isabella.

"Albus, Lily, James, and Hugo are all upstairs in Albus' room." explained Rosie. "And all the adults are in the kitchen eating some fancy snacks."

"Oh." giggled Isabella.

"Come on!" said Rosie, pulling Isabella up the stairs. They ran up the stairs and down a long hallway. The walls were filled with pictures of what Isabella guessed their loved ones.

Al's room was at the end of the hall. The girls walked in and the room had plain grey walls but it had posters of wizarding bands and Muggle ones too. He also had Gryffindor banners on all the empty spots on the wall.

"Hi guys." said Isabella as she stepped in.

Four heads popped up from looking at a Muggle videogame device.

"Isabella, meet my little brother Hugo and the youngster Potter, Lily." said Rosie pointing to the unfamiliar faces in the room. "Lil, Hue, this is Isabella Evans, my best friend from school."

Lily was a small girl; she looked even younger than nine, her actual age. She had red hair just like her mother, it was a curly right on the ends; and she had big, brown puppy dog eyes. Hugo was definitely Rosie's little brother. He had fizzy red hair and clear blue eyes.

"Hey there." said Lily, her voice soft and sweet.

"Hi." said Hugo.

Isabella smiled and waved a little.

"So I don't get a hello?" asked James.

"Hello James and hi Al." said Isabella.

"Hi." said Al, still in shock that Isabella was standing in his bedroom.

They all talked a little about their Christmas so far. A few hours later they were called down to dinner. The Potters' dinner room was really, for lack of a better word, big. The main table was big enough for 15 or more.

For dinner, there was Isabella, Hannah, Albus, James, Lily, James, Ginny, Harry, Hugo, Rosie, Rosie's parents Ron and Hermione, and Victorie and her parents, Bill and Fleur, and her younger siblings Dominique and Louis. Isabella remember running into Dom and Louis during the year, they also were in Gryffindor but they were in 6th and 5th year, respectively. Surprisingly, they all fit at the dining room table, with extra room.

` "Eat up." said Ginny as she flicked her wand and all the food came floating into the room and placing themselves on the table.

The kids were sitting down at the end of the table, far away from the adults' conversation, but Isabella picked up some strange things.

She elbowed Rosie. "Hey, what are they talking about?" asked Isabella, after she heard some exceptionally weird.

"What? You mean the dementors?" asked Rosie. Isabella nodded. "Well, they used to guard Azkaban, you know the wizarding prison. I think the parents think that they are starting to get unusually high in their numbers."  
>"You mean, like, population wise?"<p>

Rosie nodded.

"Dementors are extremely dangerous." said Al, who was sitting on the other side of Isabella. "They're probably worried about nothing though."

About halfway through dinner, the doorbell rang. Harry went to get it and came back with an elderly woman and a very tall boy with teal-colored hair.

"Teddy!" said Victorie.

"Teddy?" Isabella mouthed to Al.

"He's my dad's godson and our 'cousin.'" explained Al. "And James caught him and Victorie snogging at King's Cross, so I think they're dating now."

"Hi." said Teddy; his eyes went from Victorie to Isabella once he noticed on more redhead than usual. "Teddy Lupin." he said to Isabella. "And you must be Isabella? Right, this lot mentioned you a lot in all their letters." He motioned to James, Al, Rosie, and, surprisingly, Victorie.

"Yup, that's me." smiled Isabella.

"Victorie also mentioned that you took my place on the Quidditch team, aye?" asked Teddy.

"Yup, Isabella is one of the best chasers I've seen in a long time." said Ginny.

"Might even give you a run for your money, Teddy." added Harry.

"Oh, thanks, Uncle Harry." Teddy said sarcastically, taking a seat across from, Al, Rosie, and Isabella and next to Victorie.

The rest of dinner was uneventful, but Isabella enjoyed meeting Teddy. She liked that now she had a face to go with the stories from the Weasleys/Potters. At around ten, everyone started to leave including Hannah and Isabella.

"See you when on the train." said Isabella, as she hugged Rosie goodbye.

"Bye! Happy Christmas" said the kids as Isabella flooed back to the Leaky Cauldron with Hannah.

Wow! 3,105 words! Whoa! New Record! :D

Sorry I haven't been posting in a while, life has been crazy! Anyway, please review as always and thanks for reading! :D

~rachel 3


	13. Valentine's Day

Chapter 13: Valentine's Day

Isabella spent most of her vacation working on her assignments, which included a foot long essay for Herbology about crucial root developments in healing plants. She saw Al and Rosie once more before they returned home because they all had such hectic schedules, well, Al and Rosie did. When they got back to Hogwarts, it was as if they never left.

One late Thursday night, the trio was sitting in front of the common room fire working on a Potions essay due the next day.

"I told you guys at least 20 times to get this done in small sections so you wouldn't have to do it late the day before." said Rosie in a very matter-of-fact-ly voice.

"Oh shut it." said Isabella. "We had Quidditch practice all week and you just went to the library every night."

"Well, that isn't my fault that you all had Quidditch practice and I didn't." said Rosie.

"It's your fault you're so bloody clumsy." muttered Al.

"Hey!" snapped Rosie. "That is an unfair accusation!"

"I can't believe you just said 'unfair accusation!'" said Isabella, she rolled over in laughter. "That's priceless! Who says that?"

"Ugh, you need to be focusing!" said Rosie.

"No, I think you should be helping us with this paper!" said Al.

"Ask Isabella, she has the same grades I do." snapped Rosie.

"But Rosie." whined Isabella. "I don't want too." she dragged out each syllable.

"Iz, you should focus more if you want to become Head Girl one day or even a Prefect."

"Who said that I want to be walking around with a stick up my butt like some of the current Prefects do." said Isabella. "And besides, I break too many rules to be a good Prefect."  
>"You break rules?" asked Rosie.<p>

"Yeah, yesterday me and Al set off dungbombs in Filch's office and blamed it on two third year Slytherins that hexed Elliot earlier in the week." explained Isabella. "And I've done other stuff too."

"Yeah, she can be a bit of a badass." said Al.

"I think what you called being a 'badass' was Isabella standing up for her friend." said Rosie. "All I see is Isabella and you being extremely loyal."

Al and Isabella looked to each other then said in unison, "Nah, just badass."

"Ugh, do you want me to help you or not?" asked Rosie.

"Yes please." Al and Isabella whined together.

The following Friday was Valentine's Day, and the entire week the whole castle was filled with pink and red frilly heart decorations.

"I hate Valentine's Day." said James as he angrily threw his books down on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall the Thursday before Valentine's Day at lunch.

"Why?" asked Isabella, looking up from her Transfiguration notes.

"All these girls keep throwing themselves at me today." explained James. "Girls I don't even know are coming up to me and asking me out to Hogsmeade this weekend!"

"Aw, is the big bad Gryffindor boy scared of the little girlies?" Al said in a baby voice.

"Shut it, I don't even know what they see in me, well, besides my dashing good looks." said James.

"And your selfless personality." said Isabella. "Look, being honest, the girls just think that you are a rebel, good looking Quidditch player."

"So you think all that about me Evans?" asked James. "Should I be expecting your invitation soon?"

"Yes, an invitation to your funeral if you don't shut your mouth in the next five second." snapped Isabella.

"Ow, sensitive." said James.

"So are you saying yes to any of these girls or what?" asked Rosie.

"Probably not, no one that I really like has asked me, so I think I'll just go with Annie and Jason."

"Jason is that guy you set dungbombs off with right?" asked Isabella.

"Yup." said James. "He is my brotha form anotha motha." he tried to say in an American accent.

The others laughed. "Fail." mumbled Isabella.

"Any way, word of advice for tomorrow." said James. "Make sure you get to lunch on time tomorrow. We don't want anyone thinking that you were up too no good." then he got up and left.

"What's his problem?" Rosie.

"Prank." said Al.

"Really big one at that." finished Isabella.

"I swear, you two." Rosie pointed at the two of them who were sitting across from her. "And him." she pointed to James who was now talking to Annie right outside the Great Hall. "_Will_ be the death of me."

"Don't be such a Drama Queen." said Isabella. "I'm sure that it won't be anything big."

The next day, Isabella, Al, and Rosie all arrived at lunch on time. So far the trio had managed to stay under the radar when it came to Valentine's. Each of them only got chocolates from each other and from Victoire that she got from admirers but they threw those out in case of them being spiked with a love potion.

They sat down at their usual seats with the other first year Gryffindors and at the time there was no sign of any major pranking plot. But if Isabella knew James, which she did, it was going to something elaborate and unexpected.

"When is it going to happen?" Isabella whispered to Al.

"I don't know, but it better happen soon, lunch is almost over." said Al.

Then, the plates all cleared themselves, and an unopened envelope appeared on each plate. Al and Isabella looked to each other and then to Rosie, they all knew what this was.

As everyone else in the Great Hall opened up the envelopes and while the trio opened theirs cautiously; then there was a massive explosion from the Slytherin table. Everyone seating there was now completely pink and had stream in the shape of hearts coming out of their ears. While at all the other tables, the envelopes were all mini explosions with little red and pink streamers.

Hogwarts was laughing at the fun little prank. Then all the streamers came together in the air and spelled out:

_Happy Valentine's Day, Chaps! Sincerely Prongsie Jr. and Gang._

As the Hall laughed hysterically, Isabella watched out of the corner of her eye, James, Annie, and Jason sneaking back into the Great Hall. She cracked a smile.

"They really out done themselves." said Al.

"I didn't think James was smart enough to do that." said Isabella.

"Well, consider who my granddad and uncles are, I think it is quite possible." said Al. Isabella laughed.

McGonagall stormed into the Great Hall and everyone fell silent. She stuck her wand up in the air and there was a loud pop. She had vanished the streamers and she looked furious.

"Whoever is responsible for this or had any knowledge of who is, I ask them to come see me in my office anytime; it is always open." she said. "And whoever is responsible for this I ask them to say so now or face dyer consequences when we find out who did. Now for all Slytherin students, please report to the infirmary to get the counter-spell for the curse."

As the Slytherins left the Hall, Isabella leaned over the table to Rosie. "So are you going to go rat out your cousin tonight or in the morning?"

Al snickered and Rosie glared at him. "I don't know what you are talking about? I never said that I would do something like that."

"Oh come on, you'd do anything to help boost you chances to be Head Girl, even as a first year." said Al.

"That is so not true." snapped Rosie. "But I do think that we should tell Professor McGonagall."

"No, no we shouldn't." said Isabella. "If we do then James, Annie, and Jason could get into serious trouble."

"But they turned everyone in Slytherin pink!" said Rosie.

"So? McGonagall-"

"Professor McGonagall." said Rosie.

"McGonagall will probably suspend James from the team and Annie will probably not be a loud to commentate the matches anymore." said Al. "Do you really want that?"

"I guess not, but when I'm a Prefect, they won't be able to get away with that kind of stuff." said Rosie, and then she got up and left.

"I love how she said _when_ instead of _if_." said Isabella.

"That's Rosie, she really wants to be just like her mum." explained Al. "My Uncle Ron says all the time that when Aunt Hermione was at school she add a stick up her butt like that too. Aunt Hermione was the top of her class, Rosie and you are tied. Aunt Hermione was a Prefect; Rosie wants to be a Prefect. Do you see the pattern?"

"How do you they are just very much alike?" asked Isabella. "That's what it seems like to me."

"Well, that's just a possibility but it's more than that, I'm afraid." said Al.

"You're ridiculous." said Isabella.

"Maybe so." said Al. "But, at least I'm not mental."

"You just don't hear me when I say that." joked Isabella.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did! I heard you say something!"  
>"Oh, c'mon, you're mental."<p>

"That's what you said!"

"What did I say exactly?"

"Are you serious?"

"No I'm pretty sure that that's James' middle name not mine."

"Ugh, I give up!" said Al throwing his hands up in defeat.

"That's what I thought." said Isabella.

"Why must you use your brilliance for evil?"

"Because it gets you to admit I'm brilliant." Isabella cracked a smile and took a bug bite of her apple.

_This Chapter is kinda random, I used to more as a chapter to show you more of each character's personality and the relationship between Al, Isabella, and Rose. I also really like how Isabella is a mix of a prankster, a bookworm, and a jock. She is definitely a well rounded character. I like Al and Rosie too because they are very much like their parents but at the same time they aren't... yeah... oh and Prongsie Jr. just kinda popped into my head one night while I was working on my trig homework soo I hope you like that reference! Review as always and thank you for reading! And sorry its such a short chapter, chapter 12 kinda makes up for it!_

_~Rachel 3_


	14. Love and Quidditch

Chapter 14: Love and Quidditch

At the first signs of spring, Isabella barely had any free time anymore. Harrison was working the team even harder than ever and the professors were doubling the work load as well. And before she knew it, the snow began to melt and the flowers were blooming.

Isabella couldn't believe that she had been at Hogwarts for over half a year. Time was going by so quickly and Isabella was trying her hardest to stay focused. But flying on her new broom around the Quidditch Pitch or walking down by the lake was just so tempting; she found it hard to focus on her studies. Luckily, coming up was the last Quidditch match on the year and Isabella allowed herself to focus only on Quidditch which was a nice change of pace. Al and Isabella spent many nights at practice with the team so they could be ready for the Quidditch House Cup against Slytherin.

She was extra pumped to play Slytherin in for the Cup. She loved the idea of the House rivals playing against each other; it added extra tension to the match. Harrison was drilling them hard. This made Victorie explode one day.

"Harrison!" snapped Victorie, after he scheduled even more practices. "I have N.E.W.T.s coming up soon and with all these extra practices, I don't have time to study!"

"Neither do I." said Michael. "I have to study for my O.W.L.s; Longbottom is kicking my arse about Herbology."

"Hey, I have to study too but come on Victorie. It's your last year here and don't you want to win?" asked Harrison. "And your name even means victory so you should be living up to it."

"Harrison!" snapped Isabella, she knew why Victorie's name was Victorie, and it was a bit of a touchy subject.

"What? I'm being honest here!" said Harrison. "We need to win it this! It's been almost five years since we've won the Cup. Slytherin has won 3 out of the last five years! Do you really want to want for them to win again?"

"No." mumbled the team in unison.

"That's what I thought." said Harrison.

"But, Harrison, maybe we should take a week break or something." said Shannon, putting a hand on Harrison's shoulder. He went red. "It would be a good strategy if we make Slytherin think that we aren't working really hard. Those cocky idiots will think that they won't have to train as hard and then we'll have some intense practices before the match and then kick their sorry asses!"

Harrison's eyes widened. "That's brilliant, Shan. We trick the enemy! We'll do it!"

Isabella and Al shook their heads. Miss Shannon Webb had a way with getting Harrison Allen to do whatever she wanted. Don't get them wrong, the plan was good, but Harrison was just a love sick puppy.

"Ugh, just ask her out already!" said James.

Both Shannon and Harrison blushed.

"They are just like how Teddy and I used to be." Victorie muttered to Isabella. "Let's hope he doesn't wait another 2 years to make a move before it's too late."

Isabella laughed; she would have loved to see Shannon and Harrison going out. Too bad she wasn't closer to them, or she would have played matchmaker. They followed Shannon's idea for two of the three weeks that led up to the Cup. The last week Harrison was more relaxed at practices.

"Wonder why?" joked Al after one of their practices.

The day of the match Isabella felt sick to her stomach, this was the biggest, most intense game of the year and she was only a first year.

"Don't worry, everyone has to have one game like this so they can get pasted it." said James as he, Isabella, and Al walked down to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Did everyone have breakfast?" asked Harrison, when they walked into the locker room.

The rest of the team was already there and they all nodded.

"Good, a word of advice, watch out for bludgers today." said Harrison. "They'll be hit harder and the Slytherin Beaters will play dirty, there is no doubt about it. Remember they play dirty so we will have to too. And Victorie and Shannon wait for a while before you pass it to Isabella. We're going to keep our secret weapon secret for a while."

The girls nodded and they walked out to the pitch. As usual Annie called out the names of the Slytherin team members, which met to a lot of booing from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. When the Gryffindor team came out, the crowd was especially loud, cheering in a good way.

"Today folks it is nice and sunny for our last Quidditch match of the year!" said Annie through the loudspeaker. "This is a match we have been waiting to see! The Gryffindor team, as many of you know, is mostly fresh meat; while, the Slytherin team, has many sixth years and seventh years. It's could be interesting to watch the rival with the difference in the experience levels!

"The players take off and hover in the air waiting for the Quaffle to be thrown! And the golden snitch is released and there goes the Quaffle and they are off! Weasley of Gryffindor passes to Webb and it goes back to Weasley! Weasley scores! Making the score 10-nil Gryffindor!"

The crowd cheered since three-fourths of the school hated Slytherin because they were dirty and slimy.

Isabella chased after and Slytherin chaser who was making their way down the pitch. Michael hit a bludger right at the chaser and almost hit Isabella, making her lose control of her broom for a moment.

"Sorry Isabella!" called Michael.

"No prob!" she yelled back. "Why does that always happen to me?" she muttered under her breath.

"And the bludger barely misses Evans, Taylor better work on his aim next time." said Annie, her voice booming through the stadium. "Slytherin Captain, Johnson is headed straight towards the goal posts. Can Allen stop the shot?"

Johnson was getting extremely close to Harrison and then he took the shot; Harrison stopped it with the tail of his broom, passing it to Shannon, who brought it all the way done to Slytherin goal posts and scored.

Isabella cheered on her broom. She looked around to find Al, she could see him a whole twenty feet above the rest of them; he still hadn't found the snitch.

"Come on Al, come on, you can do this." she muttered under her breathe.

"The Seekers Potter and Dunns can't seem to find the little golden snitch. With the score now 20-20, it's the best time to snatch it up." said Annie. "And what's this? Johnson is zooming back towards Allen; Webb is coming in for the snatch, followed by Evans. Both Slytherin Beaters are aiming at Allen. Holy S-!"

"Miss Jordan." snapped McGonagall.

But Annie disregarded the comment and continued. "Both bludgers hit Allen! One in the leg, the other to the stomach! That was the dirtiest play I've seen ever!"

"Harrison!" cried Shannon as he came falling to the ground, he landed with a thump and the whole crowd was silent.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle to stop the game and the entire Gryffindor team flew down to Harrison.

"Harrison!" Shannon cried again. "Are you alright?"

"I think he is unconscious." said Victorie.

"We need the nurse." said James.

"Damn you Slytherin! That was cheap and low!" said Annie, then she continued her rant with some very- er- colorful language.

"Miss Jordan, I will warn you one more time." snapped McGonagall.

"Sorry, Headmistress got caught up in the moment." said Annie. Isabella could imagine her shrugging her shoulders. "But, let's be honest, every word I said is completely true!" This met to a lot of cheering, but then they all fell silent as Madam Jones, the younger nurse, ran down to the field to check on Harrison.

"I don't think that he can play the rest of the game." said Madam Jones. "Either, you'll have to forfeit or play without a Keeper."

The team looked to each other. They most certainly did not want to forfeit, but then their chances of winning without a Keeper was extremely slim.

"Well?" asked Madam Hooch.

Isabella saw something out of the corner of her eye, she looked to Al who saw it as well.

"We can do this." they said in unison.

"What?" asked James. "Are you bloody mental?"

"Maybe, but Madam Hooch, blow your whistle." said Al.

"I- er-," there was no point in arguing with Al, so Madam Hooch just sighed.

"Shannon, you stay with Harrison, me and Victorie can handle the Slytherin Chasers." said Isabella. Shannon nodded and stroked Harrison hair, it looked like tears were forming in her eyes.

"Ready?" asked Madam Hooch.

The team mounted their brooms and nodded. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and they were off.

"James, Michael, cover Al! Now!" ordered Isabella. The two Beaters nodded and followed after Al. "Victorie, we need to stop the chasers! We need to stall them as much as possible."

"You read my mind, Evans." said Victorie. They flew over to the closest Slytherin Chaser and started to close in on him.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Annie yelled. "Gryffindor is playing without one of their Chasers and their Keeper? What do they think they're doing?

"Evans intercepts the Quaffle from Slytherin and is flying at stop speed towards the goal posts! And- score! It is still 30-30." cheered Annie.

Al was zooming at top speed towards the Gryffindor goal posts, he had seen the snitch. The Slytherin Seeker and their Beaters were following the Gryffindor lead.

"Come on… come on, Al… ALBUS POTTER GRABBED THE DAMN SNITCH ALREADY!" yelled Isabella, and as if he actually heard her, his fingers wrap around the snitch for the win!

"GRYFFINDOR WINS! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" screamed Annie. The crowd was going wildly. Isabella never felt so happy!

"We did it, we did it!" screamed James.

The Gryffindor team met in the middle of the field and they were all hugging and jumping for joy. Other Gryffindors were running on to the field to join in on the hugging.

Isabella hugged Victorie, then James and Michael. Next as she made her way through the increasing crowd she found Al. And threw her arms around him.

"We did it!" she said.

"Hell yeah!" he said, lifting her off the ground a bit. "Let's go find Shannon and Harrison; I think he's awake now."

Isabella nodded and grabbed his hand, she pulled him through the crowd and they found Shannon and Harrison right outside the mayhem. Harrison had woken up and he was staring right into Shannon's eyes.

"They have been like that for a while now." said Summer as she came out from the crowd and stood next to Al and Isabella. "I was going to say hi but I don't want to ruin the moment."

"I wouldn't either." said Isabella. "That's so romantic!"

"Girls." muttered Al.

"Well, we better let them be, I don't want to interrupt my sister's happiness." said Summer. "Let's head back to the common room."

"Yeah, first we need to find Rosie and Elliot." said Isabella.

"Oh yeah, let's." said Summer.

Back at the common room, it was hectic. Somehow, James and Jason, managed to sneak some food up from the kitchens. By nine at night the party was at full swing and Isabella was having a great time.

Isabella was spending most of her time with Rosie and Victorie. Al was with James, Jason, and Annie, but he and Isabella kept steal glances at each other.

"I think he likes you." said Rosie.

"Who?" asked Isabella.

"Albus, you ninny." said Rosie.

"It's true." said Victorie. "You two have been looking at each other all night. It is exactly like you're in love, just so romantic." Rosie giggled at this and Isabella slapped her arm.

"Why are you hanging out with us first years anyway, huh?" asked Isabella. "Shouldn't you be with all your seventh year buddies?"

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, the seventh years aren't exactly sober at the moment and I am not exactly into that stuff." explained Victorie. "And besides, the drunken boys wouldn't dare hit on me around innocent first years; my heart belongs to my Teddy." Isabella giggled.

"I wouldn't say the same thing for Dom and Louis." said Rosie, motioning over her shoulder to her tipsy cousins.

"Who brought the drinks, anyway?" asked Isabella, looking around the crazy common room.

"I would like to thanks Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs for that." said James, walking over to join the girl, accompanied by Al.

"Who?" asked Isabella.

The Weasleys/Potters looked at her like she had two head; then, as if a light bulb went off in their heads, the said "Ohhhh…" in unison.

"Well, you'll find out eventually." shrugged James.

"Whatever." mumbled Isabella. "So has anyone seen the couple of the hour?"

"Harrison and Shannon?" asked Rosie. "Well, Summer told me that Shannon is staying with him in the hospital until curfew. I saw them walking up together; they are just so cute together!"

"Totally." sighed Isabella and Victorie.

"Girls." said James, Al just shook his head.

"Shut it, you don't know what you're talking about." said Rosie. "Those two have been flirting since ever and it's great that they finally ended up together."

"I bet it won't last more than a month, he has O.W.L.s to study for." said James.

"Nah, two weeks." said Al.

"The summer." said Isabella, nonchalantly.

"Isabella! You're supposed to be on our side." said Rosie, nodding over to Victorie.

"What, I wanna bet, there is nothing wrong with that." said Isabella.

"You can be such a boy." said Rosie.

"You can be such a girl." mocked Isabella.

Al, James, and Victorie laughed. The rest of the night the gang had a blast. Too bad in a few weeks they would have to start studying for their exams.

.

Yeah, I know, weird chapter name... I couldn't think of anything else... it seemed to fit... and the whole Harrison and Shannon relationship, I didn't see it until I wrote it, did you? Well, review please, I'd love to know what you think! Chapter 15 should be up tomorrow!


	15. As First Year Comes to an End

Chapter 15: As First Year Comes to an End

Since the Quidditch Cup, the common room was exceptional quite. Exams were coming up quickly and everyone was focused. Rosie, Isabella, Elliot, and Al usually studied in the Library so they could discuss their notes with each other, unlike the common room where all the upper-classmen had a strict silence rule, and if you broke it you had to be their spell dummy for a day. Not the most enjoy task.

"I'm going to fail Potions!" said Isabella, one afternoon when the gang was walking down by the lake, taking a quick break from studying. "I know that Slughorn is a fair teacher, but, ugh! I can't to remember anything!"

"Ah! No exam talk!" said Al. "I'm sick of you and Rosie going on and on about failing these tests."

"Yeah, you guys will pass with flying colors and you won't even break a sweat." said Elliot. "While me and Al will scrap the bottom of the barrel just enough to pass to next year."

"Speak for yourself mate, I plan on being perfectly, exceptionally average." said Al. "James is the smart one who fails."

"Oh, so you consider yourself to be smart?" questioned Isabella.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Al.

Rosie and Elliot laughed, while Isabella just shrugged her shoulders.

"So what Weasley child is coming next year?" asked Isabella.

"No one, Hugo and Lily won't come until the year after that and all our other cousins are really little." said Rosie. "So no new Weasleys for a year."

"But the Scamander twins are coming next year." said Al.

"Who?" asked Isabella.

"They are friends of the family, their mum and our parents are really close." explained Rosie.

"Yup Lily is even named after her." said Al.

"But I thought she was named after your grandmum?" asked Isabella.

"Yeah, but it's her middle name that I'm talking about. Lily Luna Potter, that's her full name." explained Al.

"So Luna Scamander, aye? What's with you wizards are your out of the box names?" asked Isabella.

"Her maiden name was Lovegood." said Al.

"Oh god." giggled Isabella.

The next few weeks leading up to exams were torture, no one had any free time to do anything but study. Most people stayed up till midnight or later and everyone was exceptional cranky.

The first test they took was charms and Isabella believed that she passed with flying colors. Rosie felt the same way but Al and Elliot must certainly did not. Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, and History of Magic also went really well. Isabella felt a little cocky about her results but she kept that to herself.

The first and second years, since they had the least amount of tests, had a week of free time to do whatever before they left Hogwarts for summer break. During that time, Isabella and Al enjoyed going down to the Quidditch Pitch and flying around on their brooms, while Rosie read and Elliot watched. He still didn't trust himself on a broom since he broke his leg earlier that year.

Two days before they left Hogwarts, Rosie and Isabella ditched the boys and went down to the lake by themselves. They sat on a hill looking over the lake and the Forbidden Forest that wrapped around the entire lake.

"There is something that I have been meaning to ask you for a while." said Isabella; she looked down at her toes, she felt as if it was all going to go horribly wrong.

"And what is that?" asked Rosie. Her face was tilted up towards the sun taking in the warm rays of light.

Isabella took a deep breath. "Are you secret friends with Scorpius Malfoy?"

Rosie snapped her head back to Isabella and laughed for a bit then she realized that Isabella was completely serious. "Oh, you're serious? What would make you think that? Actually, where the hell did that come from?"

"Well, it was after you had that detention, I went to go find you to walk back with you and I saw you talking to him and you were saying some things…" Isabella's voice trailed off.

"What things, Iz?"

"He asked if you had told us about him and you said that you weren't too sure about telling us because we wouldn't be okay with you being friends with a Slytherin." said Isabella.

Rosie's face went white. "Why did you wait so long to tell me that you heard that?"

"Because I thought you would come around and tell us." said Isabella. There was a long pause. "So how did you become friends?"

"When you and Al would have Quidditch practice I would go the library and one time he asked me for some help on his assignment and I said…

"_Why should I help you, Malfoy?"_

"_Please, Weasley, you and Evans are the best in our year and since she isn't here, I thought that I would ask you." said Malfoy._

"_So are you saying that Isabella is smarter than I am?" asked Rosie, quickly getting angry. _

"_No, of course not." said Malfoy. "But, oh, will you please help me! Charms is my worse subject and I know for a fact that you are top in that class." _

"_That's because Isabella got the bonus wrong on the last test because she didn't study as much as I did since she had practice." said Rosie. _

"_Oh, c'mon, you are being too modest." said Malfoy. "You know you're the best, I know you're the best, everyone knows you're the best."_

_Rosie blushed. "Fine, I'll help you, but I think you should to know that I prefer Transfiguration to Charms."_

"_Will you help me with that assignment too, then?" a playful smirk crossed his face, making her blush even more._

"You blushed?" asked Isabella. "How textbook romantic. So then what happened?"

"Well, then whenever you had practice, me and Scorpius met up at the library and we would study." said Rosie.

"But, he is a total git, why would you want to hang out with him?" asked Isabella.

"When he is with me, he isn't that bad; he is actually really… sweet." smiled Rosie.

"Is that why you took the blame for me?"

"Because I thought he would say something? Yes and I thought that maybe if you spent time with that version of him, that you guys would hate each other even more."

"Aw! Rosie." Isabella side-hugged her friend. "You know I'm completely okay with you wanting to be friends, but promise me something, no more secrets, okay?"

Rosie nodded. Then running down from the castle was Al. When he reached them he was panting heavily.

"What's up, Al?" asked Isabella.

"Pro-Professor Argador." panted Al.

"What about him?" asked Rosie.

"He- he is retiring this year." explained Al.

"What? Why? He can't be older than what? His early forties?" asked Isabella.

"Rumor is that there is a better candidate." said Al. "And when my dad was filling in for him, he was out because his wife got really sick, so I think he is just taking time to take care of her."

"So, we're getting a new Defense teacher?" asked Rosie. "Hmm… they better be more qualified for the job. I must say, I learned more when Uncle Harry taught then I did this whole year."

Isabella and Al laughed, it was true; Argador was a nice person, but he wasn't the best teacher at Hogwarts. Even Professor Longbottom was more confident than him.

"I wonder who it will be." Isabella thought aloud.

When it was finally time for the end of term feast, everyone was in a somewhat happy/somewhat sad mood. At the Gryffindor table, Isabella sat in between Rosie and Al and Elliot, James, and Annie sat across from them. Isabella felt sad whenever she thought about having to go back to the Bradleys' but she sucked it all up and attempted to have fun at the feast, since Gryffindor had won the House Cup!

The next day as Isabella, Rosie, Valerie (who still wasn't on the best terms with Isabella or Rosie), Mia, and Summer finished packing their trunks and headed down the dormitory stairs to the common room where they met up with Al, Elliot, Jake, and Isaac and all the first year Gryffindors walked down to the Hogsmeade train station.

Once there, Valerie asked to talk to Rosie and Isabella alone. Isabella and Rosie looked to each other unsure but they followed anyway.

"I wanted to apologize for being rude earlier this year; I just didn't want to leave on a sour note between us so I'm sorry." said Valerie.

"No problem, Val, all's fair in love and war." said Rosie.

"Well, see you in two months." said Valerie. Isabella and Rosie waved slightly as she walked away onto the train with Mia and Summer.

"Weird?" asked Rosie.

"Very." agreed Isabella.

Then right about as Isabella is going to get onto the train, Athena her owl in hand, another came swooping down and dropped a letter at Isabella's feet and as quickly as it came, it flew away.

"Do you recognize that bird?" asked Isabella.

"No, but it's for you." said Rosie handing Isabella the letter.

It was a small letter, with her name in elegant cursive. She opened it, it read:

_Stay alert, things are about to get complicated, stay safe. We love you, Mum and Dad._

"Mum? Dad?" Isabella looked around as if they could be standing around her, watching.

"It's from your parents?" asked Rosie, taking the letter from Isabella's hands. "Weird."

"I've seen this writing before, but I don't know where…"

"You should come stay with us this summer and maybe we can figure this out together, hmm?" asked Rosie.

Isabella nodded.

"Come on you guys, we got to go!" said Al, pushing them onto the train.

On the way home, Rosie did her best to keep Isabella's focus on her friends, but how was she supposed to do that when her parents were involved?

Ahhhh... i know i'm evil, i said i would post again like two weeks ago, i'm sorryyyyy! its been pretty hectic lately soo yeahhh... well review as always! i'll update this weekend for sure!


	16. Since the Train

Chapter 16: Since the Train 

It was summer break and Isabella had to go back to the Bradleys'. Al and James came up with the idea that Isabella should pretend that she could use magic outside of school so her annoying cousin wouldn't bother her. It worked for the most part, Olivia stayed clear of her "freakish cousin" as much as she could. Which Isabella didn't mind one bit.

For her birthday, Rosie and her family sent her a basket of wizarding candies and treats and the Potters sent her a new Quaffle and the same Quidditch gloves that the Holyhead Harpies' Chasers use. She was also getting a lot of letters from her best friends, Albus Potter and Rose Weasley.

Al was usually complaining about his brother and the stupid family vacation they were going on to some random place Isabella never heard of; and Rosie was usually writing to make sure that the Bradley were being kind to her, making sure she was eating enough, blah, blah, blah…

Her attic bedroom was now full of Gryffindor banners, pictures of her friends from school, scrap pieces of parchment, and all her school books. It was her own little paradise. She even got her Aunt Doris to stop calling her for ridiculous tasks by convince her that Wizard Council of Under-Age Wizards and Witches would have her thrown into wizard jail if she mistreated her in the slightest bit. Though she didn't tell Rosie this, she could just imagine what she'd say:

_Are you insane? Lying about something so serious will get you into such trouble when she finds out! You know it is possible to get expelled from Hogwarts right? Doing something so foolish… ugh... it is exactly what James would do and you do not want to be like them. _

Al and James had a different opinion:

_**Brilliant! James and I couldn't stop laughing once we got your letter, definitely helped us to get through this trip! I don't even know where we are… Oh, and James also says that you should use your brains for evil more often… whatever that means…**_

Isabella laughed every time she read that, she could see Al and James laughing over the letter and little Lily standing on her tippy toes to try and see what the boys were laughing at.

"ISABELLA EVANS!" screeched her aunt Doris. Her aunt Doris is the definition of a thing that makes your skin crawl. Her high pitch screeching sounded just like nails on a chalk broad.

Isabella moaned. What did her annoying aunt want now? She ran down the stairs, and then walked into the living.

"We are trusting you with this, you hear me?" said her Aunt.

"What are you talking about?"

"Leaving you all alone, you freak." snapped her cousin Olivia. Though her cousin was only a few months older than Isabella, she looked about sixteen while Isabella was barely twelve. She had then same face and had the same deep red color to their hair, well, they did until Olivia dyed it bleach blonde and decided to straighten it all the time instead of letting her hair be beautiful with its natural waves.

"Why?"

"We're going on a family vacation and we need you to stay home and water the plants." said Doris.

"But you won't be completely alone." said her Uncle Reginald, her mother's older brother. "We have asked Ms. Donohue from next door to watch you. She'll come by once a day to make sure you haven't destroyed the house."

"And one more thing, no other freaks in my house. You got it, you ungrateful little weasel?" asked Aunt Doris.

"How can I be ungrateful?" asked Isabella. "You are leaving me alone for two weeks, how can I not be thankful?"

"Why you little-,"

"Doris!" snapped Reginald. "This not the time, we are leaving now. Isabella, don't not disappoint me." and with that, they left leaving Isabella alone.

She didn't mind being alone. It was actually quite nice compared to what the Bradley's were usually like. She could do whatever she wanted, watch TV, work on her summer assignments, or just do nothing. She first decided to cook herself some dinner, she didn't know what time Ms. Donohue was coming over, but just in case she made a little extra.

It was nothing fancy, just some Mac and Cheese, she thought about writing her friends to tell them about the best thing that's happen to her this summer. She went to her room and returned to the kitchen to find 5 other people standing there.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but it came out more like a scream.

"We came to say hi." said Al. He, Rosie, James, Lily and Hugo were all standing in her kitchen. James had even helped himself to her mac and cheese.

"What- why? And give me my dinner!" she snapped, taking back her now empty bowl. She moaned and put it back down on the table. "Why are you here?"

"Like Al said, we came to say hi." said Rosie.

"One, Rose you suck at lying and two how did you know that my aunt, uncle, and cousin weren't going to be here?" asked Isabella.

"We were coming to surprise you anyways, just lucky timing I guess." shrugged Al.

"Well, you shouldn't be here." said Isabella. "This is not good timing, by the way."

"Oh c'mon, we just wanted to see your house." said Rosie.

"Yeah, we just wanted to see what hell looks like." said James, mocking Rosie.

"Git." she muttered.

"Okay fine, but I don't know when my crazy neighbor is coming over so make it quick." said Isabella. "What do you want to see? My room is just upstairs if you want to go there."

"Sure." said Rosie.

"Hey, where is your cousin's room?" asked James.

"Why?"

"Just wondering, I wanted to leave a few gifts to thank her for being so nice to you."

"James." said Rosie in a warning tone.

"What? It won't be too bad." said James. "Promise, c'mon Lils, Hugo." They walked away.

"He is going to get them into so much trouble when they come to Hogwarts." said Rosie. "Ugh, I can barely deal with one cousin out of line, how can I deal with two and my baby brother?"

"Don't forget, Fred and Roxanne are a lot like James." said Al. "You may have to watch out for them too when they come to Hogwarts."

"That won't be for a long, long time." said Rosie. "What? We'll be in our 6th year?"

"Who are Fred and Roxanne?" asked Isabella.

"They are our Uncle George and Aunt Angelina's kids." explained Al. "Their twins, 'bout 7 now? Uncle George is the one who owns the joke shop, so it's only fitting that his kids are pranksters."

"So here is my room." said Isabella as they reached her attic room.

"It's so small…" said Rosie. "And they really make you live here? I bet James can't even stand up straight in this room, the ceilings are so low!"

"I'll only grow few more inches so it won't really matter." said Isabella.

"Good point." said Al.

"So what are you doing here? For real?" asked Isabella.

"We came to pick you up." said Rosie. "Mum and Dad were wondering if you wanted to spend the rest of the summer with us after the party."

"Party? What party?" asked Isabella.

"Tonight is my dad's 38th birthday and we are all having a big celebration for some reason." explained Al. "He said we could invite you, and almost everyone is going to be there, Annie, Elliot, and you'll get to meet the Scamander twins, and some of our cousins you haven't meet yet too."

"Sounds great but I have to watch out for my aunt's plants." said Isabella.

"We have an easily solution for that." said Rosie. "When I was reading this year's Herbology book I found a way to water plants without bring there. So how long will they be gone? What, two weeks?"

Isabella nodded.

"Great, c'mon, let's go get the others and I'll show you how to do it." said Rosie.

Isabella nodded and they walked back down the stairs, Isabella showed Rosie where the plants were and she went to work. Isabella and Al went into the living room.

"Is this you in this picture?" asked Al, holding up one of the pictures from the mantle.

"No, the Bradleys' wouldn't dare put a picture of me on the mantle, that's my cousin Olivia." said Isabella. "That's from when we were about 7, I think."

"You look like you good be twins, well, except the eyes, I should have noticed, she has really ugly brown ones and you have a pretty green." said Al.

"Here, this one is from this past school year. I believe that it's the most recent picture we have." Isabella handed him the picture from the middle of the mantle.

"Whoa, she looks fifteen!" exclaimed Al.

"Yeah, lots of make-up and dying your hair bleach blonde will do that." said Isabella.

"I think she shouldn't have dyed her hair." said Al. "She'd be prettier if she kept it red."

"Oh, really?" said Isabella jokingly. "And why is that?"

"Well, because she would look more like you." said Al.

Isabella blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Isabella, I-," began Al, but Rosie walked back in and interrupted.

"Okay, everything is all set; down we just have to go tell your neighbor." Rosie stopped when she noticed the awkward tension in the room. "Am I interrupting something…?"

Then in walked James, Lily, and Hugo.

"Hey, so your cousin is going to have a nice little surprise when she gets home, I hope that she likes sweets." said James.

"Hey," said Hugo. "Why is Isabella blushing like mummy when daddy tells her she is-,"

Rosie put her hand over her brother's mouth before he said something stupid. Then, he licked her hand.

"Ew! You little twat!" yelled Rosie.

"That's what you get for trying to silence me, woman!" said Hugo, punching his fist into the air.

That got him a slapped on the back of the head from Lily. "Don't be a sexist pig with the emotional range of a teaspoon."

Everyone looked at her as if she sprouted two antlers.

"What?"

"Where did a ten year old hear that?" asked Isabella.

"Mummy and Auntie Hermione and Auntie Luna." Lily listed. "Oh and that show on the telly that mummy and daddy watch."

"Remind me to tell my parents to shop watching that." said James.

"Second that." mumbled Al who was still a little shocked at what had just come out of his baby sister's mouth.

"C'mon, I have to go tell the crazy cat lady next door that I'm going to a friend's house and not to both to check up on me, I mean, I don't give a damn about the people that live here so it all good, right?" said Isabella.

"Girls are so confusing..." said Al, shaking his head.

"Shut up, Potter." snapped Isabella. "I'm just having some second thoughts about this."

"Ugh." moaned Al. "You lot better leave, this may be some time." he sat down in the nearest chair and Isabella picked up the back and dumped him out of it. "Bloody hell, girls will be the death of me."

Lily, Hugo, James, and Rosie laughed.

"Good, you should be afraid of us." said Isabella crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm just concerned about what will happen when I come back next summer, will I still be able to call this place home?"

"If your family wants protection, they'll let you back." said James.

"What do you mean?"

"He means that he has a mouth too big for his tiny brain and it's time to shut _up_." said Rosie, elbowing her cousin in the ribs.

"How about we face that problem when the time for it comes." said Al. "Now why do you girls go and get Isabella's stuff, we'll wait down here."

Isabella led Rosie back up to her room to get her stuff. They placed all of Isabella's school things and clothes in her trunk along with her broomstick and cauldron. Isabella grabbed Athena and they went back down stairs. James and Al took her trunk and they went outside.

"Hey, wait, I how did you guys get here?" asked Isabella.

"We just floo powder." said Rosie.

Isabella cringed at the thought of using floo powder, she must definitely did not enjoy the spinning and the jerk right behind her naval. She moaned.

"Wait, I didn't think there were any witches or wizards around here." said Isabella.

"You'd be surprised." said James.

Isabella followed the cousins across the street.

"Hey, wait a sec, this is crazy cat lady house." said Isabella. "Why are we here?"

"You said that you had to tell her you were leaving." said Hugo.

"Well now is your chance." finished Lily.

"Wha-,"

Then Ms. Donohue opened the door. "Ah, James, Albus, Rose, Isabella, Hugo, and little Lily, I wasn't expecting you for another hour." she said. "But come in, come in."

She ushered the kids inside her house, she had only been in the house once when she was little but it looked exactly the same. The entire house was dark wood and pink fabric...

"I'll go get the fire ready." said Ms. Donohue.

"Thanks, Ms. D!" said James.

"How do you all know Ms. Donohue?" asked Isabella, once she was out of earshot.

"She's another family friend." explained Rosie. "She married into a wizarding family so she knows all about it."

"She never mentioned any of this to me…" said Isabella. "Did she know that I was a witch or did she just find out like I did?"

"She's known for a while, I'm pretty sure she reported back to McGonagall on how you were doing, magical-wise when you were a kid." said Al.

"All righty then kiddos, you are all set, enjoy the party, give my best wishes to your parents." said Ms. Donohue as she came back and then brought the kids back again into her living room.

James went then Al, Lily, and Hugo. Rosie waited for Isabella to release Athena from her cage before she went through. Then after Rosie went, Ms. Donohue held Isabella back for a moment.

"I know that I shouldn't have kept this world from you but I wasn't allowed to tell you no matter how much I wanted to." said Ms. D. "But if you want, when you come home next summer, you can come by for tea and I can tell about anything you want."

"I'd like that, I'd really like that." she smiled and with that, Isabella stepped into the fire and felt the too familiar jerk behind her naval.

CHAPTER 16! OMG! its been a little over a month since i've started posting and i just want to thank everyone for reading and please review, thank you! :)


	17. Oh Wow, That's a lot of Red

**Chapter 17: Oh Wow, That's a Lot of Red.**

Isabella stumbled out of the fire into a unfamiliar house. She looked around and saw Rosie and Lily dusting themselves off from all the powder.

"Rose, is this your house?" asked Isabella.

"No, this is the Burrow." explained Rosie.

"It's where mummy and Uncle Ron grew up with all my other uncles." added Lily.

"Yup, we usually have big parties here." said Rosie. "And this is where we will be staying for the next week, and James and Al took your stuff up to our room so we are all set for the party."

"Can we go de-gnome the garden now?" whined Hugo.

"What?" asked Isabella.

"It's kind of a family event." explained Rosie. "What you do is we all go out to the garden area over there and we try to catch gnomes, they are incredible stupid so it is pretty easy, then you take them by their heads, spin 'em around and send them flying into the field so they won't bug us. Our parents have been doing it for years, it really fun!"

"Sounds it, but shouldn't we go to the party first?" asked Isabella.

"Oh right!" Rosie slapped her forehead. "C'mon, let's go introduce you to the family!"

Rosie pulled Isabella out of the house to the front lawn where the party was being held. There were at least 40 people there, and guessing by the all the red, Isabella figured that more than half of them her Weasleys.

"Wow, that's a lot of red." muttered Isabella.

"Yup, you'll fit right in, c'mon." Rosie pulled Isabella towards her parents.

"Mum, Dad! Isabella is here, where are the twins? I want to introduce them to her." said Rosie.

"I believe I just saw them run down to the hill towards the pond, Rosie." said her father, Ron.

"Yup, with Lily and Hugo." said her mother, Hermione, turning back to Ron.

"Ugh." moaned Rosie as she grabbed Isabella's hand again and pulled her towards the pond right at the bottom of the hill.

Rosie was extremely fast for such a clumsy girl; Isabella had a hard time keeping up with her. When they finally reached the pond, Isabella noticed that there was some blonde mixed in with the many redheads of the Weasley family. Rosie tugged her again over to the group.

"Lorcan, Lysander, this is Isabella Evans." said Rosie. "Isabella these are the Scamander twins: Lorcan and Lysander. They'll be with us at Hogwarts this year."

"Hi." Isabella gave a small little wave.

"Hello beautiful." the twins said together. "We've been so excited to meet you." they both took a hand each and kissed her hands softly, making Isabella blush the color of her hair.

"Are you sure they are a year younger than us?" Isabella asked Rosie.

"Yup." said Rosie. "Well, technically they are only three month younger than you, since their birthday is in October; they missed the cut off date for our year."

"Oh, okay." with this information, Isabella felt a little about finding both the twins incredibly charming.

The twins were identical. Their shaggy blonde hair fell just before their dream-like, grey eyes. They were also around the same height as Isabella and Rosie, who were now only an inch shorter than Al thanks to his mini-growth spurt.

"So which is which?"

"I'm Lorcan." said the one standing on the left. Isabella took note to the small freckle he had under his left eye.

"And that makes me Lysander." said the one on the right, who didn't have a freckle under his left eye.

"So now what?" asked Isabella, she looked around the group. There was James, Al, Rosie, Lily, Hugo, and the twins. "Hey, didn't you say that Annie was coming?"

"She isn't here yet." said James.

"Hey, I have an idea!" said Al. "Let's play a game of mini-Quidditch. We have enough for even teams and I bet we can get some of our other cousins to play too."

"Brilliant, Al!" said Isabella. "Wait, I'm not running back up that hill to get my broomstick."

"No problem." said a voice from behind the group.

Everyone turned around. There, standing in front of them was a familiar teal-colored hair, twenty year old boy.

"Teddy!" said the group in unison.

"_Accio_ Brooms." said Teddy, his wand up in the air, then all of the broomsticks came zooming towards them.

Isabella caught her Lightingshock right before it would have crashed into Lily.

"Thanks." she said.

Isabella shrugged and said, "Chaser."

"So you lot are going to play Quidditch, well, my suggestion is that one of you go asked Uncle Harry if he wants to play, Merlin knows that he hasn't played in ages." said Teddy.

"I got it!" said Lily, she grabbed Hugo's hand and pulled him along with her as they ran back up the hill.

Moments later, Lily and Hugo returned with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Victoire, and three older Weasleys that Isabella had never met before

"We have enough for a full game!" said James. "Dad, can we _please_ use bludgers and a snitch?"

"Anytime I get to see my son out do his uncle, is fine by me." said Harry, he pulled his wand out of his pocket and lightly flicked it and a trunk came floating down to the field.

"Yes!" cried the Weasley children, Lorcan, Lysander, and Isabella.

"The parents vs. the children?" asked one of the red head men, he had a scar across his face that was hard not to notice.

"Bill, would that even be fair?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, Victoire can go with the kids and Teddy can be on our team. It's nine vs. seven, I think that's fair." said Bill.

"Eight, actually, I'm not going to make a fool of myself on this scale." said Rosie.

"But Papa, I'm not a child anymore!" snapped Victoire. "Why can't Uncle George be on that team? We all know he is the biggest kid of them all."

"Aw, my sweet, sweet, niece Victory." said who Isabella guessed was George. "I think that that would just be on fair, two brilliant beaters on the same team? No, no, no, I must remain here."

Victoire glared at her uncle, she hated when someone called her the English form of her name. It was extremely irritating.

"Alright then." said Al. "Team huddle."

The kids all formed a circle.

"We can take them." said Isabella. "All we need is a bloody good Keeper." She looked to Lorcan and Lysander.

"We don't play Keeper." said Lorcan.

"Yeah, when we play its either Chasers or Beaters." said Lysander.

"I'll do it." said James. "Ly and Lo can be the Beaters, I know all of my mum's moves, and I've been able to block them since I was a first year."

"Okay then Chasers will be me, Lily, Hugo, and Victoire?" asked Isabella. They nodded. "And that leaves you as Seeker Al."

"Yeah, kick Daddy's butt!" said Lily.

Isabella looked over to the adults. She knew that Ginny and Teddy would be playing Chaser, Ron would be the Keeper, and Harry would be their Seeker, but what would the other three Weasley men be playing?

They all put on some Quidditch gear, like sheen guards and wrist guards since they were using Bludgers. And Harry enchanted some roots into goal posts at either end of the field. It was starting to look like an actual pitch.

They were about to start the game, when Annie and her dad came walking down the hill. They volunteered to be the referees. Then some of the even younger Weasley children came down to watch along with the wives.

It was going to be epic!

"Let's have a fair game everyone." said Annie, mocking Madam Hooch.

The Golden Snitch was released and the Quaffle thrown up into the air. Isabella snagged it right out Teddy's grasp and began to fly at top speed. She maneuvered around all the players; it was harder to have your own space when you played on such a small field.

Both Teddy and Ginny were closing in on her and she threw the Quaffle to Victoire but it was caught by Bill and he flew back in the other direction. Isabella's broom came to a stop as she made a U-turn to chase after the Quaffle.

The game was very pass pace and no one seemed to be able to score. It was even getting a little rough. One time when Victoire had the Quaffle, Bill and Teddy came in on either sides of her, squishing her in between them. Then with one push from Bill, Victoire fell off her broom taking Teddy down with her. The couple fell on top of each other and shared a fit of giggles before he kissed her.

The game stopped for a moment as they all cheered for them. They broke apart, their cheeks red. They got back up onto their brooms and the game started again as if it never stopped.

Everyone fell to the ground at least twice but it was all in good fun. It was the first time Isabella felt like she was part of family and she felt like she was another Weasley cousin. She definitely had the hair to.

"Isabella!" yelled Lily as she threw the Quaffle to her. She grabbed it and flew right towards the goal posts. She fakes left and goes right and scores.

The young Weasleys go crazy as they dog-piled in the air in the middle of the field. They were all laughing.

Then as the game started again, Isabella saw a plump, petite, redheaded woman coming down the hill and she didn't look too happy.

"What are you all doing?" she snapped. "I come out with dinner and everyone is gone?"

The game stopped and all the Weasleys flew down to the ground, Isabella followed their led not too sure about what was happening at that very moment.

"And then I see you all flying around!" she continued. "You could have been seen! Or worst, one of those ruddy Bludgers could have hit the younger children."

With that, George and the twins grabbed the Bludgers and bring them back to the chest.

"Mum, we were doing it for Harry's birthday." said the unnamed older Weasley.

"I don't care, Charlie, this is completely irresponsible!" she said.

So this was Al and Rosie's infamous grandmother, Mrs. Weasley.

"Everyone up to the house, now!" snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Before I flick away the food."

"But Grandmum, we haven't even finished the game yet." whined James. "Al hasn't even got the snitch, we can't the game."

"James, you think your father isn't going to get the snitch?" asked Ginny.

"Mum, it's just simple science, Al is smaller and more aerodynamic than Dad." explained James.

"What do you mean be that?" asked Harry.

"I think your son is trying to tell you that you have lost your stuff oh chosen one." said George, fake bowing to his brother-in-law.

"Stuff it." snapped Harry.

As the Weasley family began to argue with each other, and Isabella saw a flash of golden buzz by her head. She swatted at it, thinking that it was a fly; her hand instead grabbed the golden snitch.

"Um… guys?" said Isabella.

"Not now, Iz, you never interrupt a family argument." said Al.

"But, Al-,"

"It's best if you stay out of this said James, who turned back to back to one of his cousins he was fighting with.

"But guys, I have to tell you something." said Isabella. "Ugh! Albus Severus and James Sirius Potter don't you ignore me!" she yelled.

Both boys whipped around, and everyone else ceased their arguing. She held out her hands, showing off the little golden snitch in her hands.

"Oh, well, I guess we can go eat now." said Harry. "Good job, Isabella."

"Blimey, Harry, you and Al got showed up by a Chaser, that's just sad." said Ron, clasping her hand on Harry's shoulder; Harry shrugged it off and led the family up to the Burrow for dinner.

"You know, Quidditch rules are that any player but a Seeker isn't a loud to touch the Snitch." said Isabella.

"I know." said Rosie. "But my family just doesn't care about rules. They never have, and I'm pretty sure we never will.

You have such a weird family." Isabella said to Rosie.

"You have no idea." she linked arms with Isabella and they started their way back up to the Burrow for some much needed food and cake.

* * *

><p>so here is chapter 17! :D<p>

I love this chapter so much because a) its another quidditch game (i love writing those if you haven't noticed yet!) and b) it was a WEASLEY QUIDDITCH SHOWDOWN! I mean, am I the only one who thought that this was kind of _epic_?

Anyway, thanks for reading and pretty pretty please review! thanks! :D


	18. Back to Hogwarts

**Chapter 18: Back to Hogwarts**

Isabella stayed at the burrow for a week following the party and then she stayed at the Potters along with Rosie and Hugo. Rosie and Hugo's parents were away on vacation for their 15th wedding anniversary.

They all didn't go shopping for their school supplies until one week before the gang was supposed to return to Hogwarts. Rosie, Isabella, and Al separated from their family and walked around Diagon Alley.

Isabella found it hard to believe that a year ago she had just found out about magic. That a year ago a 10 foot tall man on the monkey bars of her favorite playground, who told her that she was a witch and that her parents weren't dead and that she was going to be someone special.

Wow.

How time flies…

"Isabella! Hey Isabella! Are you there? HEEEELLLLOOO?"

Rosie's voice piercing her eardrums, snapping her out of her dream world which she very much wanted to return too.

"Bloody hell, Rose!" Isabella shouted back. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an incredible lung capacity?" she asked as she stuck her fingers in her ears, trying to make them stop ringing.

"That's what happens when you grow up in a big family." said Rosie. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I only heard my name being screamed at an unusually high level that only dogs should be able to hear." said Isabella.

"I asked you if you were okay, you seemed out of it." said Rosie.

"No, Rosie, I was completely focused on you too and that's why I responded so quickly." Isabella said sarcastically.

"Ouch, how rude." said Al. "What's with the attitude? What's up, Iz?"

"It's just that, with me spending so much time with you and your family, I've been thinking about my own family a lot." said Isabella. "I just think that maybe this year at Hogwarts I should try to figure some stuff out about my parents. I want to figure out who they were, what they were like, why was it them who disappeared and not someone else's parents…"

"I thought that Hannah told you everything that you wanted to know." said Al.

"No, she didn't." said Isabella. "She told me that they disappeared, that they are still alive, and that they were part of the Order, but besides that I really don't know too much about them."

"So what are you saying?" asked Rosie. "Do you want to find them?"

"No, I'm saying that I want to find out more about them so when I am able to find them, I can now if it's really them." explained Isabella. "I just want to know who my parents were."

"You mean, who your parents _are_." said Al placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, confused. "You told us last year that your parents' names were still on that piece of parchment which meant that they are still alive, so it's who they _are_."

"Grammar Nazi." she joked.

"Ouch." said Al, placing his hand over his heart. "I feel as if I was just stabbed in the back."

Isabella punched him in the arm. "Correction, you feel like you just got punched in the arm!"

Isabella laughed and took off down the street; Al ran after her, while Rosie just kept walking, shaking her head at her friends.

The following week, the gang was headed back to Hogwarts. This time with some very mischievous twins; Al had made a side comment about the next Weasley twins, but when Isabella asked him to elaborate, he told her to forget about it. Lorcan and Lysander and Isabella became friends quickly after she met them over the summer. They were easy to talk to just like Al and Rosie.

They boarded the train after saying goodbye to their parents. Isabella shared a compartment with the twins, Rosie, and Al. Isabella felt as if the train ride was taking longer than last year. About halfway through the ride, Al, the twins, and James disappeared; Isabella assumed, thanks to the small explosion they heard, that they were playing a prank on some Slytherins and/or first years.

"Why do they act like idiots?" asked Isabella.

"I have no idea." said Rosie. "I think that all men are like that, you know? They just don't know how to act, especially around girls…"

"Problems with your best buddy, Scorpius?" asked Isabella, slightly mocking her friend.

"I wouldn't call him my best buddy, we haven't talked since May." said Rosie. "I wrote him at least five times over the summer and I got nothing back."

"Weird…" Isabella wondered aloud. "Wonder what has his wand in a knot…"

"I don't know he just stopped talking to me." said Rosie. "And he stopped meeting me in the library. And in class last year, towards the end he wouldn't even make eye contact with me!"

"Rose, Al barely makes eye contact with me or you, I think that it's just a boy thing." Isabella placed a hand in Rosie's knee. "You're just over thinking it all like always."

"I hope you're right."

"Like always." giggled Isabella.

Rosie glared at her.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten up the mood." said Isabella.

"Obviously that failed." said Rosie.

Isabella could tell that Rosie was hurting, and she hated knowing that. And what made it worse was that it was over a prat like Malfoy. A stupid, mindless, prat like Malfoy… Isabella stilled didn't understand why Rosie was friends with him, but she knew that she had to be there to support her friend, no matter who or what stood in her way.

"I'll be right back." said Isabella, she stood up and left.

Isabella walked down the corridors, looking into each of the compartments. She couldn't find him which made her even more pissed off, besides the fact that she would actually have to have a civil conversation with the twit. She finally found him and slid the door to his compartment open.

There he was, laughing with his stupid Slytherin cronies. They were playing Exploding Snap, who knew that they did normal thing while they were alone.

"Malfoy, get up, I need to talk to you." said Isabella, her arms were crossed over her chest. She wasn't in the mood for games.

"Well hello to you too, Evans." he said sarcastically. "What do I owe this pleasure?"

"Cut the crap, Malfoy. You know why."

"Very well." Malfoy stood up and followed Isabella out into the corridor.

"You need to stop toying with her!" snapped Isabella.

"What? Who?" asked Malfoy. "I have no bloody idea what the hell you are talking about, Evans."

"Don't play dumb, Malfoy; you may be a Slytherin but we both know you aren't stupid."

Malfoy took in a deep breath. "This has nothing to do with you or her. Now, do yourself a favor and get lost. You don't want to do anything you'll regret."

Isabella drew her wand and placed it at his throat. "Is that a threat, Malfoy, because I learned a lot more spells than I did last year in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Is that a threat?" he asked, moving her wand from his throat.

"It very well could be, so I suggest that when we get to Hogwarts that you talk to her or else it well _definitely_ be a threat." and with that Isabella turned on her heel and walked back to her compartment with Rosie.

She left Malfoy, breathing heavily. He wanted to talk to her so badly, but he didn't want her to get hurt because of him.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Al had met back up with Isabella and Rosie and the three of them sat down at the Gryffindor table with Al's roommates, Isaac Jennings, Elliot Hubble, and Jake Campton.

The Sorting Ceremony was a total different experience watching than actually being part of it, or that's what Isabella thought. She watched as about 40 first years got sorted into their houses for the next seven years of their lives. Lysander and Lorcan were sorted into Ravenclaw, which semi-upsetting for Isabella because then she couldn't hang out with them as much, but she preferred them not having access to her 24/7.

The feast was amazing as expected but Isabella just wanted to go up to her dormitory and get under the sheets of her very comfortable bed, but that wasn't going to happen.

McGonagall stood up and the entire hall went silent. "This year we must stand together as one." she began. "The houses must be able to coexist as one because we cannot be divided by petty house rivalries and separation. So I ask you to be one. I asked you not to be four houses, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor; but one Hogwarts. That is all, now, time for bed."

"What was that about?" Isabella asked as she, Rosie, and Al walked up the moving staircases to the Gryffindor common room.

"I don't know." said Al. "But, lately, dad has been working extra hours at the office."

"Yeah, when we were there, he was barely home." said Rosie.

"Do you think that it has to do with Death Eaters?" asked Isabella. "Do you think that they may be gaining power again?"

"Let's hope not."

Al said goodnight to Isabella and Rosie as they went up their separate staircases. As Isabella tucked herself into her bed, she began to fear the worst. What could McGonagall know that the son of the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement didn't know?

* * *

><p>It's short, yeah... yeah... I know... sorry bout that but next chapter we find out who the new D.A.D.A. professor is! omigod omigod omigod! ahaha :D review and tell me who you think it will be :D until next time! ~RACHEL<p> 


	19. Defense Teacher Number 2

**Chapter 19: Defense Teacher Number 2**

The next morning, Isabella woke up with a terrible headache and strange, lingering feeling from her dream the previous night. She dreamt of Hogwarts, like she enough did, but this one was different…

_Isabella walked through the halls of Hogwarts; they were completely empty, which was strange. Her dark red hair was falling in her face, covering her green eyes. She noticed that she wasn't wearing her school robes but Muggle clothing. Isabella was wearing a horrid purple sweater with a silver, cursive _"I"_ on the front of it. She was holding a piece of parchment and her wand was lit. She was walking in what was most likely the one of the Seventh Floor corridors. Her pace quicken with every step she took, she had to get where she was going. _

_ She looked up from the piece of parchment; she was right in front of a wall. She began to walk in front of it, thinking very hard, but she didn't know what about. She passed the wall once, then twice, then… _

That's when she woke up from her dream and shot up in her four poster bed. She pulled back the drapes that surrounded her bed. Rosie, Mia, Valerie, and Summer seemed to just get up as well. She got up and began to get out her uniform.

"Are you alright, Isabella?" asked Mia. "You don't look too good."

"Yeah, just a wicked headache, maybe I'll go to the infirmary after breakfast." said Isabella, she rubbed her eyes then her temples and began to get dressed herself.

Once Isabella and the girls arrived at breakfast, the Gryffindor _Second Year_ boys were already there and the girls slid into their seats.

"Hey, Evans." said Jake Campton. "You're not looking so hot. You're really pale, like really pale." He ran his hand through his spikey, brown hair.

"Thanks, Campton, like I didn't realize this fascinating fact already." snapped Isabella. She was sitting in between Al and him.

"Play nice, Evans." joked Jake.

She glared at him; he looked down and took a bite of toast.

"Did you guys notice that there was an empty seat last night at dinner?" asked Valerie Thomas. "The new Defense teacher wasn't there."

"It says that we have it first with Slytherin." said Isaac Jennings, he said holding up their new schedules. He shook his head to get his sandy-blonde hair out of his face so he could see out of his dark blue eyes.

"Really?" asked Rosie, picking up her own that Professor Longbottom had placed down next to each of them. "Ugh, it doesn't even say their name."

"Let me see." Isabella snagged the paper from Rosie's hands. "Ew, we do have it first with Slytherin. I have no idea how I am going to get through Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing on Monday mornings with Slytherin."

"Well, at least it isn't History of Magic." said Summer.

"Here, here." the others agreed.

"I just want to know who this new Professor is!" said Mia. "I hope he is H-O-T cute! I need something to keep me awake!"

The girls giggled in agreement and the boys looked at them all and said in unison: "Girls."

"What makes you think that it's a guy?" asked Elliot.

"Yeah, it could be a smoking hot babe." said Jake. "Now that will keep me awake."

Al reached over Isabella and high-five his roommate. Isabella shoved them both.

"Mature guys." she said. "Real mature."

Once in the D.A.D.A classroom, they Gryffindors took their same seats that they sat in last year. Isabella and Rosie took their seats in the front right, and Al and Elliot were in the seats behind them. The class was buzzing as they waited for the professor to come in and begin the lesson.

"I wonder if it is a guy or a girl." said Isabella.

"I think that a woman teacher will definitely be a step in the right direction for Hogwarts." said Rosie.

"What do you mean?" asked Isabella.

"Well, the witches movement of course; there is this big thing going on down at the Ministry about how there are more men as Head of Departments then there are women." explained Rosie.

"Oh, I knew that I was just making sure that you knew what you were talking about." said Isabella.

"Of course you were." giggled Rosie.

Isabella blushed, then the lights went out. Pitch black surrounded the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Girls screamed. Isabella couldn't see anything; she couldn't even see her hands only a few inches from her face. She fumbled around in her robes and finally wrapped her small hands around her wand. "_Lumos_!" she pointed her wand out into the air. A soft light filled the room. Rosie then followed Isabella's lead, then Al and Elliot, and then the rest of the class.

The room was now completely lit and a slow and steady clap came from the front of the room. Spinning around, Isabella saw someone who she wasn't expecting at all.

Teddy Lupin.

He stood there in front of them, a stupid smirk plastered to his face. He stopped clapping a flicked his wand. The original lights turned on and the students mumbled "_Nox_." to dim the light coming from their wands.

"Bravo." said Teddy. "You see, there were a handful of you who used their magic to lead, others seemed to completely have forgotten about it, and the rest just didn't seem to care."

He walked over to his desk and leaned up against it, placing his wand behind his ear. "That, you see, is a major problem. 20 points to Gryffindor for Miss Isabella Evans, who led you blithering idiots."

The class gasped at the fact that their new professor had just insulted them.

"Now, now, settle down." said Teddy. "I think that I'll give Gryffindor another 10 points for teaching my lesson for me."

Isabella raised her hand but didn't wait for Teddy to call on her. "But, Professor, I didn't do anything major."

"That's where you are wrong, Miss Evans." said Teddy. "Defense Against the Dark Arts isn't just knowing the spells and theories and counter-cruses, it's about knowing when to use them and to make sure that you do. You see, Isabella here didn't think, something I usually don't advice, and took action in a situation. For all you know, there could have been a deadly beast in here that only would act you in the dead of night. For all you know, Miss Evans just saved you all from getting eaten; and that's no good is it?"

The class shook their heads in shame.

"That's what I thought, now, can one tell me what a pixie looks like?" asked Teddy.

"Defense is going to be awesome!" yelled Al as the Gryffindors moved from Defense to Charms.

"Hell yeah, Professor Lupin is awesome!" said Jake. "I think we may actual learn some things this year!"

"I heard he is reopening the dueling club too!" giggled Mia. Isabella had gathered from their conversation so far that her fellow Gryffindor girls ha developed crushes on their new, young Professor. I was just a bit creepy, okay, it was very creepy.

"You know," began Isabella. "They call them crushes for a reason."

Summer, Mia, and Valerie stopped giggling for a moment before they hurried ahead of the rest of them.

"That wasn't too nice, Evans." said Jake. "What, do you fancy him or something?"

"Shut it, Campton." said Isabella. "And I do not, and besides he is dating Rosie and Al's cousin, Victoire."

"Yeah and by the looks of how they were acting this summer, it's going to be more than just dating soon." giggled Rosie.

"Ew?" questioned Isaac.

"He is probably gonna propose, you ninny, get your head out of the gutter." said Al.

Isaac just shrugged.

"Do you really think that he'll start up the dueling club again?" asked Elliot. "There hasn't been one since… well, around twenty years?"

"I hope so." said Isabella. "You know how cool it would be if we could learn how to duel and actually fight?"

"That is what Defense Against the Dark Arts is for, Isabella." said Rosie.

"Oh, don't be a party pooper, Weasley." Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She shoved it off and stormed off.

"Way to be a git." said Isabella. "Don't you know girls are sensitive?"

"You're not." he said coolly. "Why can't they be more like you?"

"Idiot." said Isabella shaking her head; she too stormed off after Isabella. _Boys_, she thought, _aren't they dense?_

"Rosie! Hey, Rosie!" called Isabella as she chased after her friend. When Rosie finally spun around, Isabella noticed that her eyes were redder than normal and her cheeks flushed.

"What?"

"Campton is a jerk, but I don't get why you got so worked up." said Isabella. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." smiled Rosie. "I know that Campton is a git, you don't need to tell me more than once."

"Well, if it helps at all, Campton insulted me too." said Isabella.

"Yeah, but he doesn't mean it when he is talking to you." she said.

"What do you mean he doesn't mean it?"

"He fancies you, that's all." said Rosie.

"What? He does not fancy me." said Isabella. "Ugh, that's really gross…"

"Oh, c'mon!" said Rosie. "Campton he is the only Gryffindor who calls you Evans and he stares at you all the time during classes."

"Jennings calls me Evans." said Isabella.

"No he doesn't, he calls you Isabella like everyone else but Campton! Now, please tell me you have noticed Campton staring at you in class. It's really gross actually, I think that sometimes he is drooling."

"Ew… and no I haven't." said Isabella. "So you really think he fancies me?"

Rosie nodded.

"Well, that is going to have to change; c'mon, if we don't hurry, we'll be late for Charms." said Isabella, she grabbed Rosie's hand and pulled her faster down the corridor.

* * *

><p>Sorry its been a while since i've updated... maybe almost a week or something? anyway, who got their Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 DVDs? on friday when i saw the commerical saying that 'its finally out on dvd' i felt really sad 'cause its kind of like my childhood is gone you know, that Harry Potter is really over... anyway enough with my rambling, i don't know when i'll be able to post again, i have been getting a lot of homework lately soo... yeahh... review as always and thanks for reading! :)<p> 


	20. Tryouts and Fights

**Chapter 20: Tryouts and Fights**

It had been two weeks since the beginning of the term and Hogwarts was great. Isabella was enjoying all her classes, even with the groups of giggling girls in her Defense class distracting her from her notes. Quidditch was going to be starting again and the Gryffindor team was looking for a new Chaser to replace Victoire this upcoming season.

"What are we going to do?" asked Isabella as she fell to the grass on the Quidditch Pitch. She placed her hands under her head and stared up into the clouds.

"I have no idea." said James, who followed Isabella's lead, a flopped down next to her.

"Well, my boyfriend is supposed to have already figured it out." said Shannon Webb, who sat down on the other side of Isabella. "But as you can see, that hasn't happened."

"Look guys," said Harrison. "It isn't the easiest thing in the world, you know, to find a chaser that can fit in with your abilities."

"Trying to sweet talk your woman, aye, Allen?" questioned Michael as he walked over to the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Al.

"Shut it, Taylor." snapped Harrison. "I haven't held tryouts as Captain yet, I'm not sure I'll know what I'm doing. Last year, Isabella was handed to us on a silver platter and Victoire was pretty much in charge of the Seeker tryouts. I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." said Isabella, propping herself on her elbows. "Harrison Allen, the famed Quidditch Captain, admitting defeat."

"Not you too, Evans." warned Harrison.

"Stating the obvious." said Isabella. "It's what I do best."

"It is true, unfortunately." said Al.

"Hey, if we got Isabella served to us on a 'silver platter,' why don't we just try to repeat what happened. Maybe there is someone with epic Chaser abilities that just doesn't know it!" suggested James.

They all looked at him funny then shook their heads, laughing.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Shannon. "Throw Quaffles at random Gryffindors and see how they react?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed James. "It's brilliant, no?"

"It's mental, that's what it is." muttered Isabella. Al, Shannon, and Michael laughed. James and Harrison glared at them. "What? You think that this is a good idea, don't you, Harrison?"

"No, I think it's bloody mental as well, but at least one of us is thinking of a way to help in our little situation." said Harrison.

"You're the Captain, shouldn't you be leading us?" asked Al.

"Why don't you just hold tryouts as if they were an actual practice?" said Shannon. "Be much easier."

"Yeah, yeah… good idea, Webb." said Harrison. "I'll put up an announcement in the common room later tonight."  
>"Did he just call me 'Webb'?" asked Shannon. "I thought that changed when you finally asked me to Hogsmeade, Allen."<p>

"Burn…" said Al.

"You just got owned by a girl!" laughed Michael, who toppled over in laughter. Isabella and Shannon glared at him.

"So? Trouble in Paradise?" asked James.

"Shut up, you three." snapped Harrison. "Practice dismissed."

Shannon didn't even wait for Harrison to help her, but she just stormed off back towards the castle and Harrison ran to catch up with her.

"Shannon! Wait!" he called as he ran after her.

"Aw, they're so prefect for each other." sighed Isabella, holding her hands to her heart.

"What are you talking about?" asked James. "All they do is fight."

"Well, every time she storms off, he follows her." explained Isabella. "That's love."

"No it's not." said James. "That's just Harrison wanting a good snog." he smirked and Isabella punched him in the arm.

"Ugh, this new Chaser better be a girl, I don't think that I can stand anymore emotion-less morons on this team. C'mon, Al, we have to go find Rosie." she grabbed Al's hand and pulled him along with her as they walked back to the castle.

"How are we supposed to find a new Chaser if everyone keeps fighting?" asked Isabella as she continued to drag Al behind her.

"I don't know, maybe James was on to something good…"

"Albus Potter, don't make me slap that ridiculous idea out of your head!" she snapped.

"Oh, c'mon, think about it." said Al. "If we just throw things like Quaffles at Gryffindors, then maybe, just maybe, we can find us a new Chaser. When you think about, it doesn't seem too stupid."

"Okay, maybe it's not that stupid." agreed Isabella. "But where are we going to find someone who can fly, catch, and throw? Mhm?"

"McGonagall found you didn't she?" asked Al.

Isabella opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't think of anything to say. Damn, she hated it when he used her own logic against her. Sneaky, little bugger…

"That's what I thought." said Al.

"Hey, can't your cousin fly?" asked Isabella.

"Which one?" said Al, he laughed at his own little joke.

"Not funny." she said dryly. "Umm… Dominique, that's her name right? Victoire's little sister?"

"I guess, yeah. Why?" asked Al.

"She would fly great with us if she is anything like Victorie, so why don't you convince her to tryout?" suggested Isabella.

"She's a Seeker if anything, and she doesn't really like Quidditch." explained Al.

"How can someone in your family not like Quidditch?" asked Isabella. "Even Rosie likes Quidditch."

"She's much more artsy, Dom more of a Delacour than a Weasley." said Al.

"Ugh…" mumbled Isabella. "What about Louis? Can he fly?"

"Not since he broke his hand a few summers ago playing, Aunt Fleur won't let him play now because of it; and he wasn't that great to start off with anyway."

"Bugger…" Isabella thought for a moment, she didn't know many upper classman, so she didn't know who was athletic or not. "I guess we're just going to have to tell Mr. Captain that he has to but on his big boy pants and hold tryouts."

"He isn't going to like that too much." said Al. "It's too boring of a way to find his next star Chaser."

Isabella laughed. "C'mon, you dork, we have to go find Rosie and copy her Herbology essay."

Next week was tryouts and no one on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team was excited about it. About twenty people were signed up; which meant that Isabella and Shannon had to deal with twenty different styles of flying, James and Michael would have to hit about 100 Bludgers with prefect precision (5 per flyer), Harrison would have to would have to play keeper and watch twenty Chasers zooming around, and Al, well, all Al had to do was stand there and look pretty.

Right before tryouts were to begin, Isabella noticed that Teddy- er- Professor Lupin? was sitting up in the stands watching the students there to tryout warm up. She flew up to the stands to say hello.

"Hello, Professor." she smiled.

"Hello there, Isabella." Teddy returned the smile.

"Not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to support my students." said Teddy. "But Victoire also wants a full update on her replacement. I just hope you find one as good as her."

"We do too." muttered Isabella. She waved goodbye, then flew back down next to Shannon.

"How are we supposed to figure out which of 20 Chasers we fly with better?" Shannon whispered to her, her tone was angry, very angry.

"We ask them what they would do in a certain situation, if they would do the same thing as us they move onto flying." said Isabella. It was like a light bulb was going off in her head as she spoke. "It's going to be brilliant."

"No, that idea was bloody brilliant." said Shannon.

"Oi!" Isabella shouted over the noise of the Chasers. They quieted down and turned to face the second year. "Thank you. Now everyone get in a straight, single fill line."

The Chasers moved slowly.

"Oh, that's just pathetic!" yelled Shannon. "Quickly, Quickly! You're Chasers, not turtles!"

The Chasers quickly got into line.

"Since there is so many of you, we've decided that you must pass a certain test before you can actually fly with us." said Isabella. "Now, first up, come here."

A tall, lean boy walked up to them.

"Hi." he said dryly.

"Hello." replied Shannon with the same amount of enthusiasm.

"Okay, what would you do if you were down a Chaser after they were knocked down by a Bludger?" asked Isabella.

"I don't know? Pray to god that it doesn't happen to me?" said the boy.

Isabella made a buzzer noise. "Wrong! Next!" The next 10 Chasers answered about the same thing as the first. They were only halfway down and Isabella and Shannon's patience were running low.

"Next!" called Shannon after a pudgy sixth year boy said 'Go home and cry to me mummy.'

A very pretty girl walked up to them. She was much taller than Shannon and Isabella. Her wavy, dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her hazel eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi. So what would you do when you were down a Chaser and the score was very close?" asked Isabella.

"Well, from what I saw last year, Potter knows how to catch a snitch, so I'd half to say half wait for him to catch the snitch, but then again I'd also say I'd have to fight for it! You know? Just because we have one man down doesn't mean that we have to forget how to fly, am I right?" said the girl.

Isabella smiled widely, while Shannon keep smacking Isabella's arm, whispering: "Omigod! _Omigod_!"

"What's your name?" asked Isabella.

"Ella Martinez." she smiled.

"Well, Miss Ella, wait over there why don't you." said Isabella, pointing over towards Al, who was standing by all the brooms and protective gear.

"Okay." Ella smiled.

Out of the last of the Chasers, only one other girl had the right answer, but she was actually a Hufflepuff so she had to be sent away.

"She is the only one you want to fly with?" asked Harrison, motioning over toward Ella who was having a conversation with Al and James.

"Yup." said Isabella and Shannon.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yup." the girls said again.

"Fine, get her into some gear." said Harrison; he took off towards the goal posts.

"C'mon, Ella, you're going to fly." said Isabella.

"Great!" she called back to her.

After about 10 minutes of just drills, Isabella and Shannon felt as if they were flying with Victoire again. Ella's style suited theirs very well. In 20 minutes after Ella got passed Harrison 19 out 20 tries, it was unanimous that Ella deserved the empty Chaser spot on the team.

"Congrats, Ella." said Isabella.

"Thanks." said Ella.

"So what year are you in, Ella?" asked James.

"I'm a seventh year." she said.

Shannon and Isabella groaned, that meant that they would have to find yet another new Chaser next year.

* * *

><p>The next week, Isabella, Al, and Rosie were all seating outside under their favorite tree down by the lake.<p>

"Can you believe that we've been here for almost two months already?" asked Isabella as she rolled up her finished Potions essay.

"No." Rosie said bluntly as she read over Al's essay. "And Albus you miss-spelled Bezoar again."

"I don't care." said Al. "I hate Potions." He was lying on his back staring up at the clouds.

"Well if you want to become an Auror like your father than you need a N.E.W.T. for Potions, so it'd be best if you get used to it now."

"You said that I want to be an Auror?" snapped Al. "And N.E.W.T's aren't for another five years, why should I be worried about them now?"

"You should always care about your school work, Albus Severus." snapped Rosie.

"Well, Rose Ginerva, I don't and you don't need to be my mother, I already have one of them at home." said Al, he stood up.

"Well, between you and James, someone has to make sure that you two don't blow up the school!" said Rosie. Her voice was raising and so was she.

"I'm not going to blow up the bloody school!" snapped Al. "Neither James or I could manage that!"

"Actually," Isabella cut in. "It's both very possible for you two to blow up the school with help of course."

"Not helping." Al and Rosie snapped together.

"Don't act like my mother, Rose! I'm not your bloody son!"

"Fine then, Albus, don't act like an irresponsible child and then I won't have to treat you like one!"

"I'm older than you!"

"I'm more mature than you!"

"How can you say that? You're only twelve!"

"So are you!"

"I hate you!" they both said at the same time. That made Isabella jump up.

"Guys!" she tried to calm them down. "Don't be so rash!"

"I wasn't being rash!" said Al.

"I was only stating the truth." said Rosie.

"Let's go, Isabella." they both said at the same time, yet again.

"No."

"What?"

"Right now I'd rather hang out with Jake and Isaac than you too!" snapped Isabella. Then she stormed off towards the castle. She felt tears start to run down her cheeks. She had just witness her best friends fight and she had just yelled at them for real for the first time as well. She was so angry, but then hurt too.

She could barely walk up to the castle so she decided to go visit an old friend. As she walked down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the smell of a wood fire and Treacle Fudge filled her nose.

* * *

><p><em>Soooo I'm baaaaacccckkk, anywho I've been really busy with Track and Field lately, the season started again last week so I've been extra lazy after school and too tried to post! But not today! :)<em>

_So in this chapter we meet Ella Martinez, our new Gryffindor Chaser! YAY! Ahaha, she is slightly based off of a friend i made last year on my school swim team, they are like twins so it should be interesting to see how her character develops..._

_Yeah, well, this chapter is really important too! Not just plot wise, but this chapter is a bit of a milestone because we have now reached chapter 20! Omigod! And also we have reached over 1,000 views! DOUBLE OMG! I just want to thank you all for your continuious support and I know that it may seem like a small number for some but since this is my first more-than-one-chapter-story, I've just been slightly freaking out about... yeah that's an understatement! Well, review as always and thank you all again!_


	21. Figuring Out the Right Questions to Ask

**Chapter 21: Figuring Out the Right Questions to Ask**

"Isabella Evans, as I live and breathe! I haven't seen ya in a while now, whatcha been up ter? I've seen a few of your Quidditch matches. You've got a knack for flying."

His smile was warm and kind, just what Isabella needed right then. "It's great to see you too Hagrid. I'm sorry we haven't come down to see you yet this year, it's been pretty hectic."

"No problem, little one." said Hagrid. "C'mon in, and I'll make us some tea or somethin'."

Isabella walked into Hagrid's little hut. It was warm and cozy but a smidge dirty but Isabella didn't care. A little dirt didn't hurt anyone. She sat down on one of the stools that were placed around Hagrid's giant table.

"So where be the other little trouble makers, aye? Little Rosie and Al?" asked Hagrid as he placed the kettle on his stove.

"Well, they had a bit of a row you see." said Isabella. "I was trying to escape them when I remembered I haven't had a nice conversation with you since sometime last year."

"Why thank ya, Isabella, I'm flatter'd." said Hagrid, sarcastically. "What was this fight about?"

"They were freaking out at each other for no apparent reason." explained Isabella. "I think that their patience was running low and they had a lot of tension bottle up inside them."

"Or it could just have been 'bout the fact that those too spend too much time with each other." said Hagrid. "Don't ya get mad at them too?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't tell them I hate them because they told me I misspelled a word."

Hagrid poured the tea into two giant mugs for him and Isabella, handed hers to her, and then placed his infamous Treacle Fudge down on the table.

"I can tell that there be somethin' else on yer mind, what is it?" he asked.

"Well, they aren't the only ones who are stressed out." said Isabella. "I've been freaking out about school, and Quidditch, and then I told myself that I would find more out more about my parents this year, ha, like that will ever happen without Rose and Albus' help. God, I'm so mad at them that I just called them by their full names! That almost never happens!" She buried her face in her hands. "I'm so stressed; I think my hair will go gray! And I'm only twelve!"

Hagrid placed on of his big, meaty hands on her shoulder. "You know, I think I could help ya with some of that."

"Like what?" she asked, looking up at the large man.

"I could tell ya some stuff about yer parents if ya want." said Hagrid.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"So you knew them pretty well then?" asked Isabella. "Like when they were in school and stuff?"

Hagrid nodded again. "So what do you want to know?"

"I-I never really thought about it…" said Isabella. "I guess I didn't expect to find someone who could help me so quickly."

"A word of advice, Isabella, when yer tryin' ter find stuff out, you best be wantin' to know whatcha want ter ask. It's all 'bout figuring out the right questions ter ask, ya know what I'm sayin'?" asked Hagrid.

"Yeah, yeah I do, so what can you tell me about them when they were at Hogwarts?" asked Isabella.

"Well, I had both yer parents as students at one point or another. Yer father ya see, he was a brilliant one, he wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothin'. Don't get me wrong, yer mum was brilliant too, but yer father was the top of the class." explained Hagrid. "Bet ya already knew that."

"No, no I didn't." said Isabella. "Can you tell me more?"

"Well, I don't know what else ter say… hmm… well, your father was a bit of a prankster ya see. He was brilliant but then he was an evil little master mind." said Hagrid. "I remember this one time in class when I had both yer parents, Jacob set off a dungbomb in the middle of me lesson. It was all in good fun till Alice stepped in. She was a feisty one, I think it has ter do with the red hair and somethin' I hear she has passed on ter ya."

Isabella smiled and Hagrid went back to his story.

"Well, it was their fourth year and Miss Alice had up ter 'bout 'ere with yer father." He put his hand to about his temples. "And she just snapped at him. Funniest thing I ever saw. Both of them could hold their own in a verbal and physical battle, if ya know what I mean."

"But Madame Hannah said that my parents first met during the Battle of Hogwarts." said Isabella. "She said that they fell in love as soon as their eyes met or something like that." Isabella blushed at the thought of such a sappy tale.

"Well, being in the same year, they knew each other all right." said Hagrid. "But, being in the middle of the war does flatten yer head a bit."

"So my dad had a big ego or something?"

"That puttin' it lightly." said Hagrid. "The boy and his friends could get Peeves to listen to them, now that's quite a feat in itself."

"Peeves?" repeated Isabella. "Isn't he the ghost that drives Professor McGonagall crazy?"

"The one and only." smiled Hagrid.

"So, what does that mean? That he could get Peeves to listen to him?" asked Isabella.

"Peeves ain't the best behaved ghost, so if you can get Peeves to listen to ya that means that yer some of the best of the best." explained Hagrid. "Only a few 'ave been able ter do it, but that ain't always somethin' to be braggin' about."

"I guess, so what about my mum? Hannah said she played Quidditch." said Isabella.

"Hmm… I don't really remember ter be 'onest." said Hagrid. "But if ya go down ter the trophy room, there are lists of all of the house Quidditch teams."

"I think I may just have to do that, thanks, Hagrid." she smiled at him

For the next hour, Hagrid told Isabella all about his magical pets. It's actually quite interesting for Isabella to hear all about them. She told him about Athena and how she hadn't grown anymore since Hagrid got her Athena last summer.

"It's getting dark out, I better go find Al and Rosie and tell them I'm not died." said Isabella.

"You best be doin' that now, and make sure ya bring them back with ya next time." said Hagrid as he opened the door for her.

"Thanks, Hagrid, I will." said Isabella. "Bye!" and she took off towards the castle.

She made it to the front entrance before having to stop. She took a few seconds to catch her breath, and then she started to run towards the Great Hall. She ran into the Hall and there was no sign of either Al or Rosie but she did spot another Weasley.

"James!" she called.

James looked up from his conversation with Annie and Jason. He smiled at her, then it turned into a frown as he noticed her upset face and heavy breathing. He jumped up and rushed over to her.

"What's wrong? Is it something to do with Al or Rosie? Are they okay? Are you okay? You're really flushed." said James.

"I'm fine I just ran here from Hagrid's." she explained. "Have you seen Al or Rosie, I need to talk to them." It wasn't exactly the time to tell James about her complications with her lungs…

"Last time I check, Al was in the common room moping about something and Rosie was in the Library, but that was a while ago." said James. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, just need to work on my cardio." joked Isabella.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later." said James, he walked back over to Annie and James while Isabella ran up to the common room.

She quickly said the password to Fat Lady and she found Al staring solemnly into the fireplace. Isabella watched for a moment as the light from the fire flickered in his green eyes. The common room was empty since pretty much everyone was at dinner.

"Hi." she breathed. Al's head snapped up. He smiled at her.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.

"No."

"Good."

"Where's Rosie? Don't tell me that you two are still fighting…"

"I haven't said sorry yet if that is what you're asking."

"It's wasn't… but has she?"

"No, I haven't seen her since she stormed off after you did earlier."

"I'm sorry you two fought and I shouldn't have tried to step in."

"It's alright; I shouldn't have been such a git."

"We all snap."

"I shouldn't have been a git to you. Or Rosie, I feel really bad; but I just don't know what to say." Al looked away from her and down at the ground.

"Maybe you should just say sorry and let her talk, you see, we girls are very good at talking without knowing what we're saying." said Isabella. "You know, you should always say what you mean and mean what you say. Life is all about figuring out the right questions to ask."

"Such deep words, Evans." said Al; she let out a little giggle.

"Just go find Rosie and say you're sorry." said Isabella pointing to the portrait hole.

"Right!" Al jumped up and ran out the hole.

Isabella laughed and sat down in Al's empty seat, picking up his transfiguration book and reading the opened page. A minute later the portrait sung open and Al ran back in.

"Where is she?" he asked.

Isabella smiled at her friend. "James said he saw her in the library."

"Thanks." and he ran back out.

"Boys." she mumbled. The section she was reading in Al's transfiguration book was all about transfiguring animals into common household items. It seemed pretty complicated, looking at the diagrams, and it looked pretty painful for the animals. Isabella felt a little bad about having to transfigure Athena into a goblet in a few days in class.

After a while, people came back from dinner, James, Annie, and Jason joined Isabella in front of the fireplace. It was getting late and Al still hadn't returned. It was almost 9 before the portrait hole swung open and in came a very pale Albus Potter.

"Al, what happened?" asked Isabella as he sat down in between her and James. His skin was very pale and his expression was blank. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

The three fourth years stared at her like she had two heads.

"Muggle expression." she explained.

"Ohhhhh…" they sighed.

"Al, hey dude, are you alright?" asked James. "I saw her an-and h-him…" mumbled Al.

"Her? You mean Rosie?" asked Isabella.

"Ye-yeah, s-she a-and h-him… goo-goo e-eyes…" stuttered Al.

"Who, Al?" asked James. "Who was she with?"

Al looked up. "Scorpius Malfoy."

* * *

><p><em>AHH! I'm just so evil, first i dont update for a while, then I leave you with that ending! Yeah, soo chapter 22 is about James' and Al's reaction to that, I'm about halfway done with it so far and I've enjoyed writing the two of them flip out... whooopss I think I've said too much... oh well... so as always thanks for reading and review please, make my four day weekend and review!<em>

~Rachel~


	22. Magical Creatures and Idiotic Boys

**Chapter 22: Magical Creatures and Idiotic Boys**

* * *

><p>"James! Don't do anything too rash!" Isabella called after him, she was jogging to keep up with his fast pass.<p>

"James, I bet it was nothing!" said Annie, who like Isabella was chasing after the boys. "You don't have to hex him! Al could have seen something else, he could have just got mistaken!"

"I know what I saw Annie!" snapped Al, who was right besides James.

"C'mon guys, let me talk to her!" said Isabella.

"No! My cousin is not going to make 'goo-goo' eyes at a Slytherin ever again!" snapped James. "I'm not just going to hex him; I'm going to kill him!"

"Screw running, they aren't going to listen to us." said Isabella, she stopped and pulled her robes out of her wand. "_Petrificus Totalus_." The spell hit Al and James. They froze then fell to the ground, stiff as a board. "That's better." Isabella tucked her wand back into her robes.

"You boys are bloody mental." said Annie as they walked up to their stiff friends.

"At least they didn't have more with them." said Isabella. "I'm pretty sure Louis and Dominique wouldn't mind too much to help hex the brains out of a Slytherin."

"Lou is much more reserved than that, Dom would have been all for it though." said Annie.

"Now, you two are going to listen to us." said Isabella. "You are not to go hex Malfoy no matter how much we all want to. We don't know why they were talking or anything; so this is what's going to happen, Annie is going to stay here with you while I go and find Rosie. Okay with you, Ann?"

"Yup-yup." she smiled.

"Now don't move." Isabella said to James and AL, she giggled at the stupidity of her joke. Knowing what James and Al were thinking, she said, "Sorry, I had to."

Annie chuckled. "Alright, go on now; I'll make sure they don't get free, even though that is highly unlikely."

"Thanks!" Isabella ran towards the library. She ran right into Rosie as she came out of the library. Literally, Isabella fell over and Rosie dropped her books.

"Bloody hell, did you just remember about an essay or something? You were running so fast I thought there was a fire." said Rosie.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." said Isabella, rubbing the back of her head. "That hurt, you know."

"Sorry, but you ran into me." said Rosie, putting out her hand. Isabella grabbed it and pulled herself up.

"Thanks." she mumbled before helping Rosie get her books.

"So what were you running for?" asked Rosie.

"Al. He saw you and Malfoy. In the library. Just now." She panted.

"What? He asked me if I was done with the Potion's essay, when I said yes, he walked away." explained Rosie. "That's it."

"Oh, well, I guess there was no point in hexing Al and James then…" mumbled Isabella.

"You did what?"

"They were going to go kill Malfoy because Al said that he saw you and Malfoy making 'goo-goo' eyes at each other." said Isabella.

"What, I barely even looked up from my parchment." said Rosie. "I'm still mad at him, Isabella."

"Well, then we better go tell Al and James that then." said Isabella.

"So… what did you do to them?"

"I body-bine-ed them." said Isabella as they started to walk down the corridors.

"I don't think that's a word." said Rosie.

"I really don't care right now." said Isabella, rubbing her temples. It became a habit after she came to Hogwarts; she always did it when she got irritated about something.

Annie had situated the boys so that they were sitting up against the wall. Annie smiled when she saw the girls walking back up.

"You know, I really want to just leave them here and just let peeves have his way with them." said Annie. "But, then I remembered that they are 2 members of the Quidditch team so I decided against it. Curse their bloody "natural" talent."

Isabella smiled at her, then turned back her attention to James and Al. She muttered the counter-curse and the boys were able to move their bodies again.

"I hate you, I really hate you." mumbled James as he cracked his back.

"You were going to kill someone, James Potter; you have no right to be angry at her." snapped Annie.

"What? You were going to kill Malfoy?" asked Rosie. "For real?"

"Well, killing may be a bit over the top." said Al. "Can you crack my back, Isabella?"

"Yeah, sure." she walked over to him and began to pull on his arms.

"So back to me, why were you going to kill him exactly?" asked Rosie.

"Because you were giving him goo-goo eyes!" said Al. "If seen them before! Dad looks at mum that way all the time, I'm not crazy!"

"I didn't even look at him, Albus." said Rosie.

"Yeah, but he was looking at you!" said Al. "And when you didn't even look at him, he got this really upset look on his face."

"I'm sure that nothing was happening romantically between them." said Annie, stepping in between the feuding cousins. "I mean, you lot are only second years, you know nothing about love."

"James had his first girlfriend in second year!" said Al.

"Well, James is a special case." said Annie.

"Hey!" said James.

"It's true." said Annie, shrugging at him. "Now, I want you two to just apologize and make up and be all buddy-buddy again so we all can go on with our lives!"

"Fine." mumbled Rosie and Al.

"Sorry." said Rosie.

"Yeah, me too." mumbled Al, he ran his hand through his hair. It made him look as if he just walked of the Quidditch pitch.

"Wonderful, now can we please just go to bed?" asked Isabella, who was hanging on to James for support. "It's really late." she yawned loudly.

"Yeah, let's go back to the common room before Filch finds us." said James; still holding up Isabella, he led them back towards the Gryffindor tower.

~IE~

A week later there was still a very noticeable tension between Rosie and Al. They both seemed fine when apart, but when they were together, it was as if a storm cloud was brewing. And to make matters worse, in D.A.D.A there was going to be a big group project.

"Alright class, today marks the first day of a term long project." said Teddy, as he clasped his hands together.

The class moaned.

"Oh c'mon now." said Teddy, he leaned back against his desk. "It won't be that hard. All you have to do is research a magical creature and then give a report on it to the class. And you'll be able to work on it in class for a few weeks to get you started."

The class' heads rose and stared at him waiting for those magic words: pick your own partner, pick your own…

"But there's one catch." said Teddy. "I will be choosing your partners for you, to make sure that you focus on your work."

The class moaned even louder that time as all hope for a fun project zoomed out of the window.

"Alright the groups are: Hubble/Malfoy, Weasley/Potter, Thomas/Harvey, Jenner/Webb, Evans/Campton-,"

Isabella's ears immediately shut off she couldn't hear the rest of the class being paired because a state of shock had washed over her. She was supposed to work side-by-side with Campton? He was a class-A arsehole, why would Professor Lupin do that to her?

Isabella turned her head a little to see her new partner. Campton was leaning back in his chair next to Isaac with his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head. He was smirking like an idiot, and then he noticed Isabella staring at him. He winked at her and flashed her a smile worthy of Witch Weekly's best smile award. She gasped and spun around quickly. What she won't do to hex him to Christmas right then and there.

"Now that everyone has their partners, go meet with them and choose your magical creature to study." said Teddy. The class all rose from their seats and went and searched out their partner.

"Good luck." Rosie muttered to Isabella as Campton walked over to the girls.

"I think that Elliot is going to need it more." said Isabella, she side-glanced over at Elliot who was standing next to Scorpius' desk, looking like he could pee his pants.

Rosie nodded her head and walked over to Al.

"Morning, Evans." said Campton with a cocky smile.

"Campton." muttered Isabella. "So what are we going to do our project on?" she asked, her voice more assertive.

"I was thinking that we could do the project on you, because, you see, I think you are the most_ magical_ creature to walk the halls of Hogwarts. _Ever._" he inched closer to Isabella so that their faces were only inches apart. She could feel his breath on her face. "Well, what do you say?"

Isabella didn't know what to say. Hell, she had no idea what to do! So she did the most natural thing that came to her head.

She hexed him.

Campton went flying across the room and landed on his arse by the door. The whole class was silent, staring right at Isabella.

"Miss Evans?" asked Teddy. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sorry, Professor." said Isabella. "I was just showing Campton here a new defense spell that I've been working on; I guess I just gave it a little too much kick."

"Very well, Miss Evans, I see no harm none." said Teddy. "This after all, is a Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Jennings, help Campton to his feet."

Isaac rushed over and helped his friend to his feet and wrapped Campton's arm around his shoulder.

"Anything broken, buddy?" asked Isaac.

"No, but bloody hell, I think I just fell in love with her man." muttered Campton, so that only Isaac and Al, who grabbed Campton's other arm, could hear.

"What?" asked Al.

"You heard me right. Man, Evans is a total babe. I don't know how you can be just friends with her, mate." said Campton.

"It's easy." said Al. "We're twelve, we aren't supposed to be in love yet."

"Whatever, mate, but she is prefect those brilliant green eyes, that fiery red hair of hers that matches her fiery temper. Don't even get me started on her smarts and Quidditch skills. That girl is the entire package." said Campton. "You better watch out, Potter, 'cause in a few years, you're going to have some competition."

Al wasn't too sure what Campton meant by "competition," but he sure didn't like the way that Campton was talking about Isabella. Maybe it was just his best friend mood kicking in, but something in him snapped.

"You know what Campton? If you keep talking about Isabella like that, she'll never like you as a friend or in any other if you do that. And if I know Isabella, and that I do, then he wasn't showing you a spell, she was hexing you for being an arse." snapped Al. He shrugged Campton's arm from around his shoulder. "Excuse me now, I need to get started on my project." and he walked over to Rosie.

"Dude's clueless." said Isaac.

"Completely." said Campton.

Isabella walked over to them, her hands were on her hips and she looked just as annoyed as she did two minutes ago.

"Look Campton, focus so we can get this project done, and I promise that I will not hex you." said Isabella. "Deal?"

"Yeah, sure thing, beautiful." said Campton.

Isabella reached for her wand.

"I mean, sure thing, Evans." said Campton before Isabella could draw her wand.

"Good." said Isabella. "Now, I'm going to ask you again, what magical creature do you want to do for this project? And if you say me again, I swear I'll hex off your-,"

"Phoenix." Campton blurted out before Isabella could finish her sentence.

"A Phoenix?" asked Isabella. "May I ask why a Phoenix?"

"Well- er- you're wand has a Phoenix feather core right?" asked Campton. "Don't you wanna know more about it?"

"I-," Isabella couldn't think of anything to say, _how did Campton know that I had a Phoenix tail feather core? I had only told Al and Rosie and I don't think that wand cores are common knowledge around here like grades can be… _ This boy kept getting stranger and stranger with every moment she talked to him. "Fine, a Phoenix works, good choice."

"Thanks." he smiled.

"Don't get all cocky on me now, just because I gave you one complement does not mean that I like you in any way, shape, or form." snapped Isabella. "Got it?"

Campton gulped and nodded.

"Good, we'll figure out the rest in class tomorrow." and with that Isabella turned on her heal and walked over to Rosie and Al who looked like they hadn't decided on anything yet unlike the rest of the class.

* * *

><p><em>Hello there! I'm back! Ahahaha, so it's been a really long time since I've updated and I apologize for the wait. With track going on, most of my free time was divided up between homework, practicemeets, and sleep. I was really happy when winter break came around because that meant I would have time to write again, which I did! So the last chapter left off at somewhat of a cliff hanger, and I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint, I kinda pulled this one out of my arse, I had no idea what to do for the second part of the chapter. Anyway, I believe that the characters are starting to develop nicely and I really love writing the tension between Isabella and Campton, because it reminds me of another pair... hehehe... well, I hope to post again soon, hopeful by next weekend. As always, review, review, review! Make my new year magical! :) We authors live for reviews! _

_Until then, Rachel 33 _


	23. More Than One Project

**Chapter 23: More Than One Project**

It had been three weeks since Jake "pain-in-the-arse" Campton was paired with Isabella to work on the Defense Against the Dark Arts project; and surprisingly, Isabella hadn't had a mental breakdown yet. Every class, they would sit next to each other and words were barely ever exchanged. The only thing that came out of the pairing, were a lot of notes on Phoenix's. Though Isabella wasn't against that, it was still strange to see Campton so quiet and focus, maybe he took Isabella's threat a little too seriously…

On the other hand, Al and Rosie seemed to be in better spirits with each other. They only fought on occasions, but that was expected from two Weasley cousins.

"So why did Rose and Potter have a falling out?" asked Campton one day in D.A.D.A.

Isabella's head shot up in shock. "That's none of your business, Campton. And since when are you and Al on a last name basis?"

"Now that is none of your business, Evans." said Campton. "I was only trying to make conversation."

"Oh, like you have been for the past three weeks?" asked Isabella.

"I thought I was supposed to stay focused." retorted Campton. "And since I finished my notes, I thought that I could use a break."

"You finished?"

Campton slid at least five rolls of parchment over to Isabella. Stunned, she picked one up and started to look it over. To her surprise once again, the notes were carefully organized, his handwriting wasn't horrid, and the notes themselves were detailed and thorough.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises, Campton." said Isabella after she looked them all over. "Nice- nice work…"

"Defense is my favorite subject, I thought I'd at least try a little." he shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

Isabella stared down at her own parchment, she was only on her fourth roll, and she thought that she was going overboard. "Do you do most of your projects like this?"

"No, I thought I'd just try to impress you and since there is nothing else to do during class, I just thought I'd put some effort into my assignments for once." He awkwardly rubbed his neck, avoiding eye contact with Isabella as much as possible.

"Well, I'll finish these up tonight, and we'll go over the notes next class, okay?"

Campton nodded, "I- I'm going to go check on Isaac and Summer, see how they're doing."

"Alright." Isabella said awkwardly as he walked over to their fellow Gryffindors. Isabella packed up her things as well and headed over towards Al and Rosie who were sitting at a desk in the far corner; their sacks of books covering their faces, but Isabella could see Rosie's crazy fizzy red hair over the sack.

"Hi guys." said Isabella as she pulled a seat up next to them.

"Hey, so do you want to know what me and Al were talking?" asked Rosie.

"Umm… sure?"

"We don't have Quidditch practice this weekend because it's a Hogsmeade weekend." said Al.

"Yeah, I know that but what does that have to do with anything?" asked Isabella.

"Well, since more than half the school will be in the village, Al suggested that we go check out the records in the trophy room and see if we can find anything on your parents." explained Rosie.

"Really? So you guys actual want to help me?" asked Isabella.

"Yeah, of course, I mean, what are friends for?" asked Rosie.

"Oh thank you, thank you." Isabella side-hugged Rosie and smiled at Al. "You have no idea how happy I am."

"By the strength of that hug, I think I have an idea." said Rosie, rubbing her arm.

Isabella shoved her lightly and the three of them laughed.

_One step closer_, thought Isabella as she smiled at her friend, _I'm one step closer to finding you mum and dad, just you wait and see, I'll find you and we'll be a family once more. _

~IE~

Saturday finally came around and Isabella, Al, and Rosie made their way down to the trophy room. As Isabella opened the double doors to the room, she was immediately overwhelmed by the all the bronze, silver, and gold that filled the room. The walls were cover from top to bottom with plaques of all different sizes and metals. The floor of the room was just as crowded with trophies and stacks of papers. Some trophies were the size of Isabella, some were even bigger! Isabella wasn't too sure where to start, the room could have been almost the size of the Great Hall.

"Where do we begin?" asked Rosie.

"And the question of the day goes to Rose Weasley." said Isabella. "I guess we should try and look through some of the records. My mum was a Gryffindor, my dad was in Ravenclaw, remember that."

"Got it." said Rosie and Al as they went off in different directions.

Isabella went straight into the mass of trophies, looking at them all carefully one by one, praying that maybe, just maybe she would find one with _Alice Bradley_ or _Jacob Evans_ on it. She searched and searched but found nothing of interest. Then she noticed the section with all the Quidditch Trophies and team rosters. She ran over to it, well, she moved as fast as she could without knocking anything over.

Next to all the Quidditch House Cups was a filling cabinet. Now, this was no ordinary cabinet, it was easily a foot/two feet taller than Isabella, and was about the 10 feet wide. The cabinet was spilt up into 4 columns, for each House Isabella guessed; then into 3 rows. Isabella looked closely at the labels; they were marked: 1800's, 1900's, and 2000's. Isabella knew that these cabinet couldn't have been the only one. Quidditch was much older than 200 years, and Hogwarts was about 1000 years old; she assumed that either they didn't have records for that far back or they were stored somewhere else. She pulled out the "Gryffindor, 1900s" one and luckily it started with the 90's in the front because the actual drawer, it was about 4 feet long.

She started with 1993, the year that her mum came to Hogwarts. She didn't see her mum's name but she saw Al's father's name, Harry Potter, he was a seeker just like Al is. And then she found Fred and George Weasley; they were Al and Rosie's uncles, the ones who own the joke shop. She continued up until 1997, she was about to give up when she opened up 1998.

And there it was, right next to Ginny Weasley:

_Alice Bradley._

"Al!" yelled Isabella. "Al, get over here!"

Al came rushing over to Isabella. "What is it? I had just found the records of the Head Boys and Girls."

"Look." she practically shoved the parchment up Al's nose as she gave it to him.

Al took a step back and read the parchment.

"Why didn't you tell me that my mum was a chaser with your mum?" asked Isabella.

"Um, because I didn't know." stated Al.

"Your mum never mentioned it to you?" asked Isabella.

"My mum doesn't talk about that year much."

"Why not?"

"Well, dad says that mum was a bit of a wreck that year. First year back since the war, she didn't have to worry about Voldemort but she was afraid that some of his followers would come after him and try to kill him, well the few that weren't killed at least." explained Al. "And she was a little depressed because of my Uncle Fred, you know, the one that died, she was really close to him. I guess she just had a tough year readjusting."

"Weird, but you think that she would have told you that she played Quidditch with my mum, since we're friends and all." said Isabella. Then Isabella remembered the day she first met Mrs. Potter.

_You were quite something, Isabella. Your parents would be so proud._

Why couldn't Ginny have mentioned that she and Isabella's mum were chasers together then… did she not want Isabella to know? And if so, why?

"My mum has reasons for what she does, Izzy." said Al as if he knew what she was thinking. He was staring at a trophy that was to the side of him, his hands were in his pockets and he looked as if he was in a trance. "You may not notice it at first, but in the end you do, she's kind of brilliant like that."

Isabella smiled to herself; Al always seemed to say the right things to her. Maybe that's why they were such good friends. Correction: why they were best friends.

"You said you found the Head Boy and Girl records?" asked Isabella, changing the subject.

"Yeah, sorry, I know that's not exactly what I was supposed to do, but I was thinking about my grandparents on my dad's side. I want to see if I could find anything on them." Al took his one of his hands out of his pocket and ran it through his hair; a faint blush covered his cheeks.

Isabella nodded. "I understand." She did. Completely.

Al's father, Harry, like Isabella, never knew his parents. They were murdered by Voldemort as they tried to save Harry. Isabella could imagine that, like her, Harry used to try and find out more about them like Isabella was doing right then. She wondered what he had found out about Lily and James Potter, the name-sakes of Al's brother and sister.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"No, not yet, you called me over before I could get a chance to look." said Al.

"Oh, well, you can go back now, if you want."

Isabella nodded. "Go on, your family is more important than mine. Go." she pointed to the direction he came.

"Thanks." he smiled at her and then rushed off again.

Isabella then checked 1999, her mum's last year at Hogwarts. There, next to _Chaser, Alice Bradley_ was _Captain_ in silver cursive letters that didn't match the rest of the writing.

A strange warmth came over her, one that Isabella had never felt before. It was as if her mother was there, as crazy as that sounds, Isabella felt like she was starting to know her mother; that it wasn't all in Isabella's head, that Alice Bradley once had once lived a happy normal life.

Isabella started to play with the charms on her mother's charm bracelet she had received last Christmas. She hadn't taken it off since that day. Isabella sighed and placed the folder back into Gryffindor drawer. Just as she was about to open the Ravenclaw one, Rosie and AL ran up to her.

"Something happened in Hogsmeade." said Rosie. "Everyone is coming back early and we have to go to the Great Hall, like now!" Rosie pulled Isabella to her feet and they all took off out the door.

"What's this about?" asked Isabella, as she ran beside Rosie and Al down the corridor towards the Great Hall.

"I'm not sure, a Perfect came into the trophy room and told me that we had to report to the Great Hall." explained Al.

They reached the Great Hall, and they took their normal seats towards the front of the Gryffindor table with all the other second year Gryffindors. The Hall was anything but quiet. Everyone was talking loudly; no one knew what was going on.

McGonagall cleared her throat and the room fell silent. "You all have been called here for a specific reason. Today, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, three students were attacked on the edge of Hogsmeade. We have evidence to believe that this was a random, spontaneous act and that the attackers were only after money. But I still encourage you to be as careful and cautious as possible as we try and find who did this horrendous act of unnecessary violence."

"Isn't all violence unnecessary?" Isabella whispered to Rosie. Rosie "Shh!" –ed her and turned her attention back to McGonagall. Isabella turned to Al and she caught his eye and he only shrugged as if to say, "What are ya gonna do?"

"Now, the victims of this attack are resting in the hospital wing, their injuries could have been much worse but thanks to our wonderful Madam Jones, they are sleeping now." continued McGonagall. "Now, if anyone witnessed the attacks or know anything, I ask them to come forward now."

"Professor?" asked a voice from the back of the Great Hall. Everyone turned to see, Louis Weasley standing on top of the Gryffindor table. "Who was attacked?"

Louis was the boy Prefect for his Gryffindor class. It was strange that he didn't know, you would have thought that the teachers had told the prefects who exactly was attacked.

McGonagall's face tensed, she didn't want to say who. Isabella could tell, it was practically written across her face.

"Jason Mar." began McGonagall.

Isabella turned to Al again; he face was almost a stiff as McGonagall's. Rosie had grabbed Isabella's shoulder, waiting for the worst.

"Annie Jordan."

_No, no, no, no! __Don't__ say it, Professor, please, don't say who I know you are going to say._ Isabella silently pleaded.

"And James Potter."

* * *

><p><em>Oh no, not another cliff hanger! I seem to do that a lot don't I? Well, this is another special chapter because Isabella Evans and the Search has now reached over 2,000 views! Thanks to all who keep reading and those who have recommened it to friends, it's very sweet of you! Well, hopefully I'll be able to post more now that Track is over, I have a little over a month before Spring Track starts so I'll try to post as much as I can in that time period. Review as always. Until Chapter 24, Rachel :)<em>


	24. Always Someone

_**Chapter 24: Always Someone**_

* * *

><p>Isabella, Al, and Rosie sat in silence as they waited for news. It had been only 6 hours since McGonagall had announced that 3 students had been attacked. Those 3 students were James, Annie, and Jason.<p>

It was all so surreal, like Isabella had just stepped out of reality and into a nightmare. How could something like that happen? They were just three innocent fourth years trying to enjoy a day out. Well, maybe they were completely innocent, but they had done nothing to deserve what had just happened to them. It was so unfair, it made Isabella's insides burn with anger.

Al was pacing back and forth in front of the bench where Isabella and Rosie sat. Isabella had never seen such a look on his face, his green eyes seemed out of focus and his mouth was so thin on a normal day he would have won the McGonagall impersonation of the year hands down. What was so strange about the look was that he was completely calm, he didn't look mad or angry or scared, he just looked as if he had been dropped into a new reality. Isabella hated this, she hated seeing her friends in pain, it had her just want to hug them and take all their stress and hurt away but she knew that wasn't possible, even in the magical world.

Finally after a few more hours of waiting, Ginny came out to see the three second years. By that time, Rosie had fallen asleep on Isabella's shoulder and Al was now asleep on the floor next to the bench that Isabella and Rosie were sitting on. Isabella was the only one who was still awake.

"How are things?" she asked.

"Not good, but they're getting better. Jason and Annie are but, James is still unconscious." said Ginny, she kneeled down to Al and placed her coat under his head.

"You don't think that this is some random attack, do you?" asked Isabella.

Ginny smiled slightly, "It's been my job for a while to never think that anything is a coincidence." she explained. "My husband is Harry Potter, the hero of the Wizarding World, Head of the Auror Department in the Ministry; I haven't let anything go since I was ten. There has always been people after my family, there will always."

Isabella watched as Ginny brushed Al's shaggy jet-black out of his eyes. Isabella smiled to herself, she never noticed how cute Al looked when he slept. Sure, she had seen him fall asleep on the common room more time then she could count, but for some reason this was different.

"You know, when Albus was born with Harry's eyes and his unruly hair, I knew that he and Harry were going to be so much alike. And now, here he is; no he isn't the best when it comes to his school work, but he's somehow this brilliant wizard with all this talent with spells and Quidditch, and then somehow he made friends with you, and he became closer with Rosie. He's grown up so much since he came here, it's remarkable; Al two years ago would have gone after the attackers with a giant stick if he had the chance."

Isabella snickered.

"Yes, it's true, he unfortunately gets it from my side of the family..." Ginny made a quick glance at Rosie before standing up.

"You guys remind me so much of Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they were you're age. Making your own little family here."

"Ginny, not to be rude or anything, but why are you telling me this?" asked Isabella.

"I just don't want you three to have the same troubles that they had at your age, now you have to promise me that when we leave that you three won't go looking for the people who did this, leave it to the Aurors." said Ginny.

"I promise." said Isabella, it took all of her will not to just say no right there.

Ginny eyed her with a knowing look, but Isabella didn't seem to notice as she was adjust Rosie so Isabella could stand up.

"You guys should really go back to Gryffindor Tower, you need you sleep." said Ginny.

"Okay, I'll wake them up, you go back in a stay with James, he needs you more than these two do." said Isabella, she gently shook Rosie, who let out a light moan in annoyance.

"Alright, come back in the morning then, we should still be here." and with that Ginny walk back into the hospital wing.

"Alright you two lazy-arses, get up." said Isabella, she roughly shook Rosie and kicked Al in the shins repeatedly.

"Bloody hell, woman!" said Al as he jumped up and pulled his wand on Isabella. "Why the bleeding hell were you kicking me?"

"Lower your wand you ninny before you poke my eye out." said Isabella. "We have to get back to the dorms before curfew, it's almost ten now. Rosie! Wake up!" she shook Rosie again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up, I'm up." mumbled Rosie as she rubbed her eyes.

"You are lazy as hell." muttered Isabella. "C'mon, let's go."

~IE~

The next day when Al and Rosie went down to the Hospital Wing to visit James, Isabella felt that she would give the family some alone time, so she made plans with Shannon and Ella to work on some chaser moves since it was such a beautiful day.

Isabella was on her way down to the Quidditch pitch. Her dark red hair was tied up in a high, sloppy ponytail, her green eyes were slightly red from the horrible sleep last night from worrying, and her broom was slung over her shoulders. Even though everything wasn't play right then, Isabella felt completely calm and even a little content and she knew she would feel even better after flying around the pitch for a while, that always made her happy. The wind in her hair and the feeling of weightlessness always helped make everything better.

She was almost at the path that led to the pitch when someone called her name.

"Isabella, hey Evans! Wait up!"

She turned around and saw Jake Campton running towards her.

"What do you want, Campton?"

"Ouch, who put a stick up your arse to make you so cranky?" he asked, his signature smirk plastered on his face.

"If you're small, peanut size brain doesn't remember, three of my friends were found hexed to a bloody pulp yesterday in Hogsmeade. Bloody Hogsmeade! Do you know how scared and angry that makes me? Do you?" she said, almost yelling.

"Calm down, Evans, I was just trying to lighten the mood." said Campton, his hand immediately shot up to his hair.

"What do you even want, Campton, I have practice to go to." said Isabella. "So, if it's nothing important, I'll be going..." Isabella turned to walk away but Campton grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I told you, I'm worried about my friends and the safety of others, Campton." said Isabella. "The attack was in Hogsmeade, that's not even a mile outside of Hogwarts' grounds!"

"That's not what I meant, I knew you and Potter and Rose were doing something yesterday, some secret project, how did it go?"

Realizing that Campton was still holding her hand, Isabella yanked it from his grasp. "That's none of your business, Campton, it's this thing called private, you should add it to your small vocabulary."

"Come on, I'm trying to be nice here." said Campton, his hazel eyes were sincere.

"I'm sorry." mumbled Isabella. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm just stressed... I'm sorry, I have to go to practice now."

She started to run towards the Quidditch pitch, and as she ran, she jumped on to her broom and took off. When she landed on the pitch, Ella and Shannon, her fellow chasers, and Harrison, the Gryffindor Keeper and Captain _and_ Shannon's boyfriend, was there.

"Sorry I'm late guys, someone held me back." explained Isabella.

"S'all good." said Harrison.

"I know you wanted this to be an all chaser practice but we needed a keeper." explain Shannon.

"I don't mind." said Isabella, that was a lie, she really want to just have some girl talk for once.

"Just pretend I'm not here." said Harrison, he walked a little, mounted his broom and took off for the goal posts.

After about an hour and a half of drills, Isabella, Ella, and Shannon hovered over the Quidditch pitch and just talked.

"So how are they?" asked Shannon. Isabella knew that she was referring to James, Annie, and Jason.

"They're better, last time I check, they are all awake now." said Isabella.

"Creepy isn't it?" said Ella. "Like that something like that could happen so close to Hogwarts, I bet the Ministry is trying to cover it up though. How bad would they look if the son of the Wizarding World's hero was attacked in broad daylight in Hogsmeade."

"Rumors are that it was some older students, one's that are loyal to you-know-who's ideals." said Shannon.

"I don't understand why you can't say Voldemort." said Isabella. "He's been dead for twenty years now, there's nothing to fear."

"Yeah, he may be gone, but that doesn't mean his ideals have vanished." said Ella. "I've heard that some Slytherins have formed a group they call the J.D.E.'s, the Junior Death Eaters, creative right? They are the ones who are taking the credit for the things that have been happening around school."

"What things? I thought that James and Jason were the only prankers in school." said Isabella.

"They are, but what these Junior Death Eaters do is they trash classrooms and they do things mostly to older students, like fifth year and up. You wouldn't have heard about them, I don't even know if McGonagall has picked up on them yet." said Ella.

"That's horrible, shouldn't someone say something?" asked Isabella.

"That's what you think someone would do, but whenever something happens, the victims are always too scared to come forward." said Shannon. "I think that they threaten them to keep quiet, they are trying to install fear in Hogwarts."

"They have no power over us." said Isabella. "It's three houses against one, we would totally kick some arse in a duel."

"You'd think that, but they know dark spells, spells that would have never been taught in a classroom." said Ella. "They Head Boy and Girl have been trying to figure them out, but these wannabes are really good at covering their tracks."

"I still can't believe I haven't heard about this yet." mumbled Isabella.

"Most of the younger students don't, as we've said, so far they've only done stuff to older kids." said Ella.

"'So far'... I don't like the sound of that..." muttered Isabella.

"Yeah, neither do I." agreed Shannon. "Someone is going to have to stop them, if it gets any worse, James, Annie, and Jason aren't going to be the Hospital Wing's only patients."

"Have you learned any defensive spells in D.A.D.A yet?" asked Ella.

"No, we haven't even done that much dueling, we've mostly learned about different creatures and stuff like that." said Isabella, then she paused for a moment. "Why?"

"Just wondering..." said Ella.

"Well, we're finishing up a project, so maybe we'll start dueling soon." said Isabella.

"I heard that Professor Lupin is starting up the dueling club again." said Shannon.

"Yeah, maybe you won't have to wait as long as you thought." said Ella. "Ah, I remember when they had the dueling club when I was a second year. I met half of my friends there. It was great for mingling with other houses."

"Why did they stop it?" asked Isabella.

"I'm not sure..." said Shannon. "I think that Professor Argador didn't want to do it, he was never the best teacher, he was only here for a two years, he came in my second year, that's when they stopped the dueling club."

"I hope they do, I want to learn how to fight." said Isabella.

"Fight? Who would you fight, there are no major threats out there." said Ella.

Ella and Shannon didn't realize that there was something or someone out there who would always try and destroy the happiness of others... _always someone..._

* * *

><p><em>Finally got this done, yeah, I know I said that I would be posting more regularly on the last chapter but things have come up, so as always I apologise for my lateness, but I'm like 14 of the way through the next chapter so that should be finished within a day or two because I'm on Feb. break right now. Review as always, because to a writer, reviews are more valuable than galleons. And to prove that I'm working on the next chapter here's a little sneak peek, oh and if any one is confused on who some of my OC's are I can post a list of them with a little explantion on chapter 25, so with that, here's the sneak peek:_

**"So you don't remember anything?"**

**James shook his head. Isabella, Rosie, and Al were sitting around his bed in the Hospital Wing. It had been a few days since the attack and though Annie, Jason, and James were better and healed, none of them had any memory of what happened that day.**

**"All I remember is coming out of the joke shop, we had gone in to get some supplies and to see if Uncle George was there today, and then after that the next thing I remember is waking to all of your ugly faces." said James.**

**"Yup, he's fine." said Al, with a confident smirk that earned him a smack on the back of the head from Isabella. **

_Yeah, wimpy sneak peek I know, but it's something, review as always!_

_~Rachel _


End file.
